Undertale: Long Road
by Wolven0ne
Summary: A Year has passed since the events of Undertale, since happily ever after, but happy endings are not one time events. Happy endings are something you must work at, something that must be constantly maintained. For one disturbed flower in particular, happily ever after is still far away; but that doesn't mean he must travel the long road to recovery alone.
1. Chapter 1

Undertale: Long Road

By: Nathan Weaver

 _Warning: The following fanfiction contains spoilers for the Pacifist Ending of Undertale. If you have any interest in playing Undertale please play the game before reading this short story_

 _Part 1_

Every week it was the same thing, and it had been now for months. Frisk would wake up early, wash, comb her straight brown hair, put on her favorite purple and pink striped shirt, and would prepare her houseguest for his weekly check up with Alphys, it was like clockwork. Like clockwork that same house guest would throw a fit.

"Please," said Frisk in the sweetest voice she could manage, "take your medicine Flowey."

"Screw you, Frisk!" The talking flower cursed, "we both know that crap's poison!"

Frisk took a deep breath. The windows of her bedroom were wide open, but whenever her roommate got this upset Frisk always felt like she was in a closed box. She knew she couldn't look upset, letting that show would cause problems. So Frisk channeled that frustration, down her arms, through the table and down beneath the floor. Wherever it ended up didn't matter, all that mattered was dealing with the irate yellow flower.

"Fine," she deadpanned, "take your poison, Flowey."

To her credit, Frisk never backed down, the syringe was never more than a few inches from the indignant flower's face, despite the frantic thrashing of his petals. Despite only being nine Frisk had tremendous patience, some might even call her determined. But she couldn't really force Flowey to do something he didn't want to.

"Come on, it's for your own good," Frisk said.

"Says you!" the flower shot back, turning his face from the syringe like an angry, well-spoken toddler.

"And Dr. Alphys," Frisk shot back with a sigh.

"Oh, like I can trust _her_ ," Flowey spat back.

"That's enough, Asriel," Frisk explained with finality. The flower froze, instantly going silent.

"Frisk," the flower hissed quietly, "Don't. Call me. _Asriel!_ "

"Then take. The stupid. Medicine," Frisk said slowly, the barest edge of a threat creeping into her expression. The flower seethed for several moments before sighing and hanging his head in defeat.

"Fine, fine. You win, you little dictator," Flowey said, "let's just get this over with."

The yellow flower forced his mouth open and squeezed his eyes shut, clearly dreading the moment. For her part Frisk shoved the tip of the syringe and squeezed the glowing liquid into Floweys mouth before he could change his mind. The medicine was down his throat in an instant, but Flowey still loudly gagged like he was choking, despite the fact that not a single green drop came back up. Frisk honestly suspected that Flowey was just a big baby when it came to medicine. She briefly considered asking Toriel if Asriel was like that as well, but quickly dismissed the idea, it would dredge up painful memories.

"I'm sorry Flowey," Frisk said with a sigh, "I just don't get why we always have to do it this way. The medicine helps, doesn't it?"

"It does," Flowey coughed as he dropped limp to the bed of his flower pot. He even managed to turn green somehow. "By tonight the urge to destroy you all will almost be controllable. Until then, I'm going to feel like puking my guts out. And I don't even _have_ guts!"

"Well, you've been good," Frisk said cheerfully, stretching the truth only a little, "so, how about I surprise you a little after the checkup?"

"A surprise, really?" Flowey asked, perking up slightly, "what is it?"

"Wouldn't be a surprise if I told you"

"Well, you've got me there," the yellow flower sighed loudly and started looking around the room. Frisk had seen this behavior enough to know that Flowey was making a decision. Flowey couldn't move much inside his garden pot so this was his way of pacing. "Alright, let's go get it over with."

Frisk nodded and stood from her chair, reaching for the flowerpot that held her bad friend.

* * *

A lot can change in a year. You can find a new family, entire civilizations can be freed from captivity, the rediscovery of magic can turn science on its head the world over. For all of that, it struck Frisk just how normal her new life felt to her.

She held Flowey on her lap in silence, neither feeling the need to talk, and just watched things as each bus-stop rolled by. A few monsters got on or off here and there, but either there weren't many or Frisk didn't notice them at all. The latter was a real possibility, Frisk saw monsters as people just fine, she hardly even noticed her friend's species by now. Even back when she fell into the underground and met monsters for the first time, it just didn't seem that hard for her to see past their unusual appearance.

It wasn't until Frisk had returned to the surface, and brought all her new friends along that she realized other humans struggled to see monsters the same way. The stares Flowey was getting were not nearly as discreet as people thought.

"Frisk, this is our stop."

"Oh, right."

Her train of thought derailed, Frisk stood from her seat and walked to the exit, eyes following her and Flowey every step of the way.

* * *

Alphys' new lab was actually really nice, as far as repurposed office buildings went. It was a tan colored stucco building shaped like a strip mall, right off the edge of the university campus. Frisk thought it seemed a bit modest for the supposed global expert on magic, souls, and monsters, but Alphys didn't seem to mind.

Humming to herself Frisk walked up to the front door and buzzed the intercom. There was a waiting room, but Alphys never hired a receptionist.

"Yes hello, is that you Frisk?" Alphys asked, her voice came out tinnily on the cheap speaker.

"Yes it's me," Frisk answered, "I'm here for the checkup."

"Ah yes," Alphys said before pausing, "I uh, presume you brought the uh, the patient with you?"

"I'm right here doc," said Flowey grumpily, "buzz us in already so we can get this over with!"

"Ah, right,"said Alphys as a familiar click signaled that the door was open.

"You don't have to be so rude, Flowey," Frisk said, chiding the flower as she carried him through the door.

"You're right, I don't! But I'm gonna do it anyway!" Flowey answered sarcastically and grinned up at the girl carrying him.

* * *

Despite her eccentricities, Frisk adored Dr Alphys, just as she adored all her friends. Alphys was just such a bundle of nerves and anxiety, it was hard not root for her as she awkwardly went through life. Despite that, there were things about Alphys that Frisk couldn't understand. Take the examination room she was in. On one hand it felt a lot like a typical medical exam room, on the other hand it was just full of all sorts of weird devices that looked both hand-made, and like they belonged on the set of old sci-fi films. Honestly the room should have felt cluttered, but somehow Alphys had arranged everything in such a way that it all felt like it was in its proper place. It made the room feel oddly neat and tidy, which was especially odd considering how cluttered the rest of the Lab felt.

"Mm, Just one more moment," Alphys said quickly as she returned to scribbling notes onto her clipboard and muttering indistinctly. Frisk couldn't really make out what she was saying, but it sounded kinda mathy to her. She knew she couldn't keep up with the short yellow dinosaur-like monster when it came to sciencey stuff, not yet anyway. For visits like these she mostly had to nod her head and take Alphys word for it. Actually, thinking about it further, Frisk realized that probably described a lot of her interactions with Alphys; she was incredibly passionate whenever she started talking about anime too.

"Well, I think it's mostly good news," Alphys chirped happily as she looked up from behind her clipboard, "Asriel's soul has re-fused to about seven percent of what it should be since we started traditional dusting-injury treatment."

"That's good," Frisk chimed in happily and leaned forward in her seat, "...right?"

"It's one percent, Frisk," Flowey groaned from the equipment he was still sitting on, which resembled a large bathroom scale covered in LEDs and neon glow rings. "Months of taking that vile crap every week, and I'm barely any better off than when I started." He turned and glared at Alphys, "and don't call me Asriel!"

"Oh, um, I'm," Alphys apologized, "I keep forgetting." Alphys looked around the room quickly and adjusted her glasses with one hand, a gesture Frisk recognized as the doctor's way of collecting her thoughts. "To answer your question, yes it's good news. This proves that the patient can be treated with the same methods used to help other monsters that have had part of their bodies or souls shattered. Though, I really must stress that I've never heard of a case this dramatic before." Alphys stopped and stared at Flowey for a moment, her face struggling back and forth between awe and guilt. Frisk had seen Alphys make this face many times since she started working with Flowey. "The fact that you're sitting here at all is just- well, it's a miracle. A soul just shouldn't be able to hold itself together after taking so much damage."

"Trust me doc, it was a shock to me, too." said Flowey, "I figured I just didn't have a soul anymore!"

"I- I can understand why you'd think that," Alphys said quietly, her claws digging into the clipboard. "Not being able to feel anything for anyone must have been so terrible. If I had just known what I had done to you I could've..."

"It's all right, Dr. Alphys," Frisk interjected intentionally using Alphys full title, "You couldn't have known."

"I suppose you're right," Alphys said while adjusting her glasses again. "In either case we'll be continuing the current treatment for another week. Then I think I'll have something new to try."

"Something new," Flowey repeated with a tilt of his head, "So you've been holding out then?"

"Of course not," Alphys said defensively, hiding behind her clipboard like a shield. "I just needed to know traditional treatments would work first. Besides it's mostly just the same thing, just more concentrated."

"Oh, lovely," said Flowey with a groan, "more liquid vomit."

"Ah Alphys," Frisk quickly added now that her memory was jogged, "Flowey has been complaining about the treatment making him feel sick, is there anything that could be done about that?"

"Maybe," Alphys said thoughtfully and flipped back a few pages on her clipboard. "Do you think you can handle some capsules, Flowey? They'll be pretty big, and your equivalent for throat muscles seemed a bit weak when I examined you."

"I... I think I can manage that," Flowey replied politely, standing a bit straighter in his pot. Frisk grinned for a moment, it wasn't often when Flowey was caught off his guard like this. The little guy always seemed convinced that things wouldn't go his way, especially when other people were concerned. Frisk loved these little moments when he was proven wrong.

"Alright then," Alphys said cheerfully as she stood up for her seat, "I guess I'll see you next week then, same time. Do you need me to call Toriel for you, Frisk?"

"Nah, that's okay," Frisk said as she stood up from her own seat and walked to fetch Flowey. "Mom's busy with negotiations again today. Then she has to go get her homework assignments, she's really busy trying to get her teaching license."

"Oh, wow," Alphys said as her eyes bugged out a bit, "She's really still going through with all that, right now?"

"Yeah," Frisk said looking a bit uncomfortable, "She's really busy, but she seems pretty determined. I think she's trying to make up for lost time."

"Well, those years in those ruins I suppose," Alphys looked outside and trailed off. "But still, are you sure there isn't anyone I could call? Undyne is just out running a few errands, I sure she wouldn't mind."

"She has to use the bus just like me," Frisk said. "Besides, Mom knows where I am, she and I keep up with texts. And anyway, it's not like I'll be alone." Frisk hoisted up Flowey just a fraction of an inch and smiled, "I'm sure between the two of us we can handle getting home okay."

"Well," said Alphys with a bit of uncertainty, "If you think so. Still, don't hesitate to call me if you run into anything."

"Don't worry Alphys," said Frisk with a smile as she turned and grabbed the door handle. "I'll call if anything happens."

* * *

Frisk's plan was to take the bus, but it was such a nice cool day out that it seemed a shame not to just walk. Besides, if the map on her phone was right it wouldn't be a long walk. The old Uptown Cinema was supposed to only be a fifteen minutes walk away, and the area they had to go through was mostly high end store-fronts, hardly a dangerous neighborhood.

Flowey, for his part, only bugged Frisk about their destination every other minute or so, at least until he got bored.

"Help! Help!" Flowey hollered left and right to an imaginary audience, "I'm being flower-napped!"

"I'm sure you are," said Frisk impassively.

"Call the police," he continued dramatically, "Call a gardener!"

"You know everyone's ignoring you right?," said Frisk in that same vacant tone. Truth be told the few other people on the sidewalk were indeed ignoring Flowey, in fact they were ignoring him quite intensely.

"Oh woe, for now surely marks the noble prince's demise," Flowey exclaimed melodramatically, "May his tender spirit find rest, among the sweet blue skies!"

"Wait," said Frisk sounding puzzled, "When in the world did you learn Shakespear?"

"Who the heck is Shakespeare" said Flowey incredulously!

"Oh, okay," Frisk said, momentarily taken aback, "Where did you learn to act then?"

"What do you mean by act?" Flowey said in a confused tone.

"You know," said Frisk as she motioned around to her surroundings with her head, "Like you're on a stage? I mean, it's not like Mom lets us watch television, and I doubt you picked that up from just reading books"

"Oh," said Flowey as he comprehended, "It's not interesting."

"Well, tell me anyway," Frisk urged and she continues walking down the sidewalk, "It's not as if we have anything better to do."

"Well," Flowey said uneasily, "Mo- Toriel, she used to take Asriel out to see all these plays when he was young. Real high brow stuff you've never heard of, The Cobbler's Daughter, The Skeletons Blue, oh and The Outcast! I-, Asriel loved that one."

Flowey stared off into the streets at a passing cars, a faint smile visible from the corner of his mouth.

"Eventually I-" Flowey paused, "Eventually Asriel started imitating the scenes from those plays. At first it was just a line or two here and there, but eventually he had whole scenes down. For the longest time he only ever did this in front of Toriel and Asgore, at least until Chara came along; then he performed for her too.

*I remember that.

"Once Chara knew the plays she got into the act too," Flowey grinned at the thought. "That's when we first performed for people other than our- than Asriel's parents. Chara got all the palace staff together one day, and we just went at it."

*You were terrified.

"Asriel was terrified," Flowey rolled his eyes. "He was always so timid, but once the performance began all that disappeared. He'd pretended to be somebody else, a noble hero, the bumbling fool, the wise mentor, Chara and I both had to do multiple roles. All the while, no matter the part, Asriel didn't have to be afraid."

*Yea, it was awesome!

"Of course," Flowey said slowly as he stared into the traffic, "I don't really feel fear anymore. Not that kind of fear, anyway. I guess that means I just don't have to try so hard."

"It sounds like you had fun though," Frisk said softly as her pace came to a standstill, "I wish I could've seen it."

"Yeah," Flowey said sounding distant, "Hey, why did we stop anyway?" said Flowey as his mind snapped back to the present. The flower looked around frantically as he realized just how many people were around. There was a small crowd of people in front of them, each waiting to reach an old woman sitting in an odd glass booth. "What exactly is going on here, Frisk?"

"Well, we arrived," said Frisk with a grin. She was rather amused by just how distracted Flowey had become.

"Arrived where?" said Flowey annoyed, "Where did you take us?"

"Oh, the theatre," Frisk added quickly, "I thought I'd treat you since Mom doesn't let us watch television."

"The theatre," Flowey repeated slowly as he looked up at the bright neon lights of building in front of him, "That's like a play right? Except on one of those big flat screens?"

"Yeah," Frisk said with a smile, "I guess you could put it like that."

"Sooo," Flowey said uneasily "what are we seeing exactly?"

"Oh, a real low brow piece that's popular on the surface right now." Frisk said with a grin, "I don't think you've heard of it before. It's called Star Wars."


	2. Chapter 2

Undertale: Long Road

By: Nathan Weaver

Chapter 2

The sound of rubber soles against the ground, of friends happily talking among themselves as they filed through doorways, all of it created a sea of white noise. They were the sort of sounds that came together into something larger, almost alive, into something normal people would struggle to be heard over. Flowey managed to be heard over it without even trying.

"Darth Vader is just so friggin cool!" Flowey said excitedly, easily earning several uncomfortable glances from the crowd, "I'm telling you Frisk, that guy is my new hero!"

Frisk smiled as she looked down at the grumpy little creature in the flowerpot. If she were being honest, she actually wasn't that big of a Star Wars fan, but it was nice to see Flowey excited for a change. Heck, she had seen him practically bouncing up and down at moments, it was kinda adorable.

"I'm not sure hero is the right word," Frisk said with a grin as she pushed through the theater doors, "He seemed more like a villain to me."

"Fine, Anti-Hero then," Flowey said with a shrug, "I mean he did kill the Emperor!"

"Only after the Emperor all but betrayed him," Frisk countered perkily, "and he seemed pretty evil in the rest of the films."

"Especially that second one" said Flowey wistfully with a smile growing on his face, "did you see that choke hold thing he did!?"

"Yes Flowey," said Frisk playfully as she turned to walk down the sidewalk, "we did indeed see the same movie!"

"Well there's seeing it, and then there's appreciating it," Flowey shot back excitedly, "I mean there is an artform to villainy you know!"

"I'll have to take your word on that, you're the expert on villainy after all," Frisk winced as the words left her mouth. She'd been careful not to call Flowey a bad guy since he'd moved in, she wasn't certain how he'd take it.

"That's true," said Flowey with mock authority, completely oblivious to her concerns, "and as an expert villain I can assure you, Darth Vader has it down to a science!"

"I thought you said it was an art?"

"It can be both!"

* * *

The shadows were quickly growing longer, crawling across the cement as the sun sunk lower in the sky. Frisk tapped her fingers atop the picnic table and checked her cell-phone again, but there weren't any new messages from Toriel. Frisk considered texting mom again to ask if she was running late, but quickly waved off the idea. Toriel wasn't that confident driving yet and she didn't want to distract her.

Frisk had set up everything by text before the movies even started. Toriel would swing through a parking lot located just a few minutes walk from the theater to pick them up. The place, a gaudy local burger chain called O'Malleys, was probably the easiest parking lot to get into on the entire street; but of course that would only matter if Toriel actually came!

Frisk took a deep breath and pushed that thought from her mind as she stood and began pacing back and forth. Yes, Toriel was running late, the sun was about to set, and Frisk didn't like the idea of being out after dark so far from home, but that was reason to panic.

"This isn't like Toriel," Flowey said seriously, echoing Frisks thoughts as he drooped lazily in his pot atop the nearby table.

"Yeah," Frisk said thoughtfully, "even if she couldn't come, she would've sent someone else."

Even as she said it Frisk realized that Mom might not have anyone else she could send right now. Sans and Papyrus had been out of town for awhile now, and she wasn't sure when they'd be back. Alphys and Undyne were both still around, but neither could drive; Undyne had actually suplexed the vehicle last time she took the exam. Despite everything Frisk still smiled when she thought about that.

I guess Mom doesn't really have anyone else she can rely on right now, Frisk thought to herself silently as her smile faded. Should I really be running around like I have been, when she's already overwhelmed?

"Oh look!" Said Flowey loudly as he motioned to the other side of the parking lot, clearly trying to get Frisks attention, "It's the Girl Scouts, maybe they brought cookies!"

Frisk turned and saw two scary guys with intense expressions and ratty clothes walking straight towards them.

"You know your freak is funny, little girl," said the tallest of the two, a heavily tanned man with a well trimmed beard.

"Now don't say that Pete!" said the other man with a playful sneer, "I'm sure the lil flower was just having some fun with us." Frisk blinked, this other guy was clearly the leader of the two; he was shorter and paler than his companion but he spoke with a very faint lilt that Frisk couldn't really place.

"Golly, I guess you know me Mister," said Flowey in that sickeningly cheerful tone he used whenever he wanted to throw people off, "I just love fun!"

"Oh is that right then," said the ringleader sarcastically, "well ya best not be having too much fun around here. It's a bit dangerous for beasties like you!"

"What do you mean by that?" Frisk asked seriously, not liking the implied threat.

"Oh don't play dumb girly," said the ringleader with a grin as his eyes settled on Frisk, "everybody knows that Monsters are practically made of cardboard. I mean there was that incident a few months back at the park, little kid grabbed a stick and hit a monster in the back. Practically exploded on impact it sounds like!"

"That's right Jack," said Pete roughly, "Heard from my ma that the boy is still in counseling, didn't realize monsters were that fragile it sounds like."

"Very true," said Jack, his voice taking on a high manic edge. "As it turns out, we humans are like radiation to monsters. And what's the first thing they do after getting out of their hole, well they all move here, downtown fricken Chernobyl!"

"What's your point?" asked Frisk uncertainly as she took a step to the side, positioning the picnic table between herself and the two men. Frisk wasn't certain about Pete, but this Jack person seemed dangerous, and she wanted to put space between them.

"My point!" Jack screeched incredulously as he followed after Frisk, stepping right over the corner of the picnic tables bench to close distance. "My point is that they shouldn't be here! These creepy little things, they should just…"

A flash of green shot out from Flowey's pot, cutting off Jacks tirade with a gasp as sharp thorns wrapped around into his throat and limbs, drawing the smallest amount of blood.

"Wow," said Flowey manically as his voice took on a high sinister tone, "You really are an idiot!"

Flowey pulled Jack to the ground roughly as more vines erupted from Flowey's pot and whipped through the air. Flowey laughed, his small black eyes boring into the man struggling on the pavement.

"Did you seriously come over to pick a fight, with only this coward to back you up?" Flowey asked in disbelief as he motioned towards Jacks quivering wide eyed companion. "Go on, beg him for help!"

"Flowey that's enough," said Frisk almost pleading, "Let him go right now!"

"Why?" asked Flowey casually without breaking his glare, "He wanted to hurt you, to hurt us. Trust me, I know the look. Maybe it'd do him some good if he squirmed!"

"Asriel, stop this right now," Frisk ordered!

"I told you," shrieked Flowey as he turned to Frisk, "Don't call me-" Flowey stopped abruptly as he saw her. Slowly, a confused expression worked its way onto Floweys features as he stared at Frisks face. Frisk took a deep breath and forced herself to meet his gaze, ignoring the burning sensation that was welling in the corners of her eyes.

After a long tense moment, Flowey silently loosened the vines.

"Bloody monster," Jack cried out as he frantically scrambled away! Wordlessly Jack's companion grabbed him by the shoulder and hauled him backward, his eyes fixed on Flowey as he dragged his friend away. If either of them said anything after that neither Frisk nor Flowey heard it.

Eventually Flowey's face began to soften, his black eyes reverting back to their normal shape and size as deadly vines shriveled and disappeared. Frisk took in the sight carefully, she wondered if maybe she had just forgotten; forgotten just how dangerous Flowey could be.

"You don't have to look at me like that Frisk," Flowey said in an irritated tone as he averted his gaze, "I wasn't actually going to hurt them." Somehow it seemed to Frisk like Flowey wasn't quite convinced of that himself.

For several minutes, the two just stood there in silence as the sun dipped below the skyline. Frisk wondered if she should say something; she felt like she should, but she didn't know what. She couldn't tell him that he did the right thing, but he had tried to protect her, hadn't he? Frisk thought about it, but just wasn't sure; how could she be it happened so fast! Still the silence dragged on, with each passing second she felt more and more like she had to say something, anything!

Just then, Frisk caught sight of a dark purple sedan out of the corner of her eye, and turned to see Toriel slowly pulling into the parking lot.

"We'll talk about this later Flowey," said Frisk as she let out a deep breath, grateful for the reprieve. Without another word she picked up the flowerpot and turned to greet her mother.

* * *

Toriel sighed as she closed the door behind her, a concerned expression etched on her vaguely goat-like face. The drive home was long, quiet, and very awkward. Frisk was normally such a lively talkative girl when they met back up after a day apart, but tonight she had hardly said a word.

"Have you had anything to eat my child?" Toriel asked hopefully as she placed her heather-purple bag in the closet, "I know it's been a long day for you." Truthfully Toriel would have prefered to take time to change into her traditional dress before doing any cooking. The conservative business suits most Humans expected people of her status to wear were hardly comfortable for people born with a layer of white fur. This was especially true in a kitchen, but she could sacrifice comfort for a little longer if need be.

"That'd be great Mom," Frisk said with a smile that somehow seemed forced. Without pausing Frisk gently placed Flowey on the end table near the sofa. "Could you bring it up a bit later, please? I, I need to think about something."

"Oh," said Toriel, straining not to sound so disappointed, "well of course Frisk."

"Thanks Mom," Frisk said with a less forced smile, "I love you!" With that she turned and quickly climbed the stairs to her room alone, leaving Flowey behind for the first time since the creature had come to live with them.

"Well," said Toriel as she took a deep breath, "tonight has certainly been memorable, has it not?" Toriel paused and waited for Flowey to take the bait, but the creature suddenly seemed more interested in a patch of bare wall. "So, I take it something happened between you two then?" Toriel asked directly.

"I did nothing to her," Flowey said curtly, after a long pause.

"Ah that is good," said Toriel as she scooped the flowerpot up in a single hand. "Then perhaps you can accompany me to the kitchen and tell me exactly what you didn't do."

Flowey grunted in protest almost growling, but otherwise he didn't say a word. Toriel often thought it was quite odd how the creature always seemed to clam up when she got near. She knew he was almost a chatterbox with Frisk, but with her it was almost as if he was hiding.

"You talk, I will cook," Toriel said cheerfully as she deposited Flowey on the table, "I believe people on the surface would call this multi-tasking."

"Look," said Flowey in a strained tone, "I really didn't do anything to Frisk."

"I actually believe you," said Toriel casually as she filled a pot full of water, "I do not think you would hurt her at this point."

"What," Flowey said in disbelief before getting his tone under control, "what makes you think that?"

"Honestly, I am not certain," said Toriel as she flipped on the burner to the stove. She thought back to all the little moments she had observed between her daughter and Flowey, searching for some snippet of conversation to support her impression. Finally she shrugged and answered, "call it a mother's intuition, but I simply cannot see you harming her again."

"I don't believe this," said Flowey, nearly scoffing, "you actually trust me?!"

"Oh no, not as far as I could throw you," Toriel said quickly with a smile, "I just don't think you'll hurt Frisk. I know, that is just the strangest thing, is it not?"

"Honestly, I can't understand," said Flowey flatly, "but what else is new."

"So," Toriel said softly as she poured oatmeal into the boiling pan, "I know we are not close but, would you mind telling me what happened?"

Toriel stirred the pot, staring at the bubbling contents as she waited for the creature to respond. The moment seemed to stretch out awkwardly as the two waited in silence. Idly she considered prodding the flower again, but the moment just felt so tenuous to begin with, and she just wasn't certain how to talk to this creature.

"Well," said Flowey uneasily, finally breaking the silence, "Frisk was kinda, attacked."

"Attacked?" said Toriel in a panic as she spun to stare at Flowey with wide eyes. "By whom, what happened, why did Frisk not tell me of this-"

"Relaaaaax," said Flowey in an annoyed tone as he cut her off, "it was just a few local idiots, and I scared them off. Heck, she seemed to be more upset about that than anything those morons did."

Toriel let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding, instead she just felt suddenly so embarrassed, she had to have looked so silly right then.

"Oh," Toriel said as her heart finished dislodging itself from her throat, "I should have realized, I mean, I saw her just a few moments ago."

"Well like I told you," said Flowey indignantly, "she's fine."

"Yes, so I gathered," Toriel said with a sheepish grin as she turned back to stir the oatmeal, "but you say you were the one to upset her?"

"Probably?" Flowey said uncertainly, somehow making the statement sound more like a question. "I guess I might've gotten a little carried away, but what else was I supposed to do!?."

"I, understand," Toriel said uncomfortably as she turned off the burner. With effort she pushed the thoughts of what Flowey might have done from her mind. If this creature could torment a child without regret, she wasn't certain she wanted to know what it meant by, 'a little carried away'.

"Still," Toriel added with a quick shake of her head, "I suppose, I should thank you for trying to protect her."

"You're, welcome," said Flowey cautiously as he drew out the words, eyeing Toriel apprehensively.

"You've, been very helpful," said Toriel politely as she stifled a grin. Somehow this creature's behavior just now had seemed, almost cute for a moment. She really did need to remind herself that despite any outward appearances, Flowey was by no means actually cute. "Now if you would excuse me," Toriel said in that same polite tone as she opened a cupboard for a bowl, "I have a little girl to feed."

"You know," said Flowey uneasily, "You were right earlier, I wouldn't do anything to Frisk."

"Oh," said Toriel with a faint smile as she scooped up oatmeal. Truthfully she really wasn't terribly comfortable talking to this creature, but she found herself curious, "would you care to elaborate?"

"You're, probably not going to believe this," said Flowey as if it was a strain just to get each syllable out. "Heck, I can hardly believe I'm saying this myself," he added as he took a deep breath, "but honestly, she's the closest thing to a friend I've got."

* * *

Sans stirred and stretched out lazily, unintentionally working his little groove a little wider. It occurred to him, not for the first time, that dirt and sand could be surprisingly comfy when you really wanted it to be, but he still wasn't really used to waking up outside.

Bleary eyed, Sans looked up and took in the night sky while his mind rebooted. Even with the distant light from the nearby city there were just so many stars, and so many different colors. He was pretty certain he'd never tire of seeing the actual stars at night, not after spending a lifetime living underground.

Reluctantly Sans propped himself up and reached for a nearby LCD screen, wrapping his bone-fingers around the device. The motes of light inside his empty socket eyes scanned words and they trailed across the small display.

Scan 98% Complete, estimated time to completion, nine minutes.

Not enough time for another nap, Sans thought with a sigh as he carefully placed the display back on the ground. Sans turned and stared at the machine the screen was tethered to with a sour expression. It resembled a small spinning radar dish on top of a tripod, and he had learned to hate the sight of it in a way that no living thing deserved.

I really wish you'd hurry up, Sans thought wearily. The Scanner had been an endless hassle since he'd first gotten it working six months ago. If you bumped it, obscured it, looked at it funny, or even cracked jokes near it, it'd actually lose progress. Pretty much all he could could do is sit or take naps while it was working, which suited him fine, but he'd rather be taking them back home.

He considered just letting the machine finish and sleeping through the night, but he quickly dismissed the idea. As lonely as this arid little patch of sagebrush and sand was the road wasn't far. If the sun rose while he slept some busy body would notice his motorbike and come check things out.

Sans chuckled as he remembered the park ranger that had done just that a few weeks back. The guy was so startled to find a skeleton laid out on the side of the road, and even more startled when it got up and said hello. Sans tried to scold himself for laughing at the poor man's terror, but that expression had been priceless.

Sans stretched again and pulled his blue fur-lined hoodie closer. He wasn't really cold, he didn't even really need the coat or the layers he wore beneath. Skeleton Monsters didn't feel temperature the same way Humans or other Monsters did, but both he and his brother Papyrus had picked up certain habits after living with warm-blooded types for so long.

He was about to lay back down and try getting in a micro-nap when his cell-phone rang. It'd been so long since it last rang that he'd nearly jumped as he felt it shake in his pocket. Shaking his head he fished the cell out and looked at its screen. He smiled as he read the ID, the lights in his sockets glowing the tiniest bit brighter as he hit answer.

"Knock knock," said Sans smoothly, before the caller could say anything.

"Who is there?" A familiar feminine voice answered, Sans could almost hear her smile when she talked.

"Aida," Sans answered simply.

"Aida who?"

"Aida feeling you'd call today!" Sans said excitedly, his sockets glowed bright as the female voice erupted in laughter.

The Scanners LCD-readout beeped loudly like it always did when progress was lost. Sans looked down at the readout and saw that a minute had been added to the clock.

Worth it, you little demon machine, Sans thought as he extended his free hand and casually gave the scanner the finger. The readout beeped again as another minute was added.

"Oh Sans," said Toriel on the other end of the line as she struggled to reign in her laugher, "that was horrible, even by our standards!"

"I know," Sans said happily, "wasn't it great, I've been sitting on that one for weeks!"

"Oh, it is so good to hear your voice again," said Toriel happily, "how have you been, has traveling suited you."

"Oh it's been great," said Sans as he laid back down in his groove, "I get to see new scenery, meet interesting people, try interesting foods. Did you know that there's more than one kind of ketchup?"

"I did not," said Toriel in an amused tone, "It sounds like you've been having a lot of fun."

"Yeah it's been great," said Sans uneasily, a bit uncomfortable with the lie, "I just wish, you know, that you guys could be here. It'd be so much more fun with all of you out here."

"Yes," Toriel said somberly, "I honestly wish we could, it'd be great to see more of the surface. It's just that-"

"Yeah I know," said Sans, picking up as Toriel trailed off. "Paps is busy being our mascot. I still catch him on television from time to time, the goofball." Sans thought back to just how quickly Papyrus had become a celebrity once Frisk convinced the Humans that they weren't actually going to be eating them.

In retrospect it should've been obvious that the Humans would take a liking to Papyrus. He had been one of the first Monsters that Humans had seen, he wasn't camera shy, and he certainly was fun to watch. After that first news crew had interviewed him, purely by chance, it seemed like everyone with a camera wanted to talk to Papyrus.

"He has certainly taken to the spotlight well," said Toriel in that same smiling voice, "and it is amazing just how much the Humans seem to like him."

"Not really," said Sans with his own grinning voice, "my brother is an innately lovable guy."

"I bow before your expertise on the matter," Toriel conceded with a chuckle.

"Then there's you," said Sans a bit more seriously. "Up until recently you and Asgore have been negotiating citizenship for Monsters. It's not like you could drop that just to bum around with me."

"We are actually still negotiating, I am afraid," said Toriel with a sigh. Sans could practically feel her resentment over the phone.

"Whoa, Tori, what the heck happened!?" Sans asked, honestly surprised. Sans thought back to when he had left; at that point the talks had been going well. Heck the hardest part had been convincing all the stuffed suits that Monsters didn't want any special treatment. Once that was out of the way things had gone pretty well, or at least that's the impression he'd had.

"I, I am just so sorry Sans," said Toriel as her voice wavered. "Things were going well. The holdouts were caving, and overall our position seemed good. I was so confident it would soon be over, I even enrolled to get a teaching license. I think I may be regretting that now."

"So, what went wrong?" asked Sans softly as he nervously scratched at the back of his skull. "I know whatever happened wasn't your fault, but what could've-"

"They learned just how fragile we are," Toriel said quickly, her voice seemed sad as she cut him off. "There was an incident a few months ago, some poor child was attacked by an older boy, a Human. He was hit in the back with a stick."

"Oh, oh no," said Sans as he grabbed at the ice forming in his chest. Toriel didn't have to elaborate. Sans knew full well that an intentional attack from a Human would almost certainly kill a child, even if it wasn't meant to be fatal.

"I honestly do not blame the boy," said Toriel tenderly. "He seemed very distraught, he clearly did not know."

Sans knew that Toriel was probably right. Monsters hadn't been very open about certain things since coming to the surface. Part of this had been because King Asgore asked people not to talk about certain things, but Sans suspected most monsters wouldn't have brought things up anyway. Either way, it would've actually been surprising if some random kid knew just how fragile Monsters were.

"Still," said Sans as he tried to ease his way back into the conversation, "why would that have set things back?"

"Well, the holdouts took advantage of the incident," said Toriel with a sneer that Sans could hear across the phone. "They started talking about setting up a 'Human Free Monster Preserve'. Senator Crier and his lackeys went on television and made an impassioned speech about needing to protect the magical creatures of the world. That Monsters needed to be kept apart from humans for their own good!"

"That, jerkhole," Sans nearly barked the words as he struggled to reign in his emotions! "I'm sorry Tori, but that's the most dolled-up idea for a prison-camp I've ever heard of!"

"I know," said Toriel tiredly, "I don't blame you, I feel the same way."

"Where the heck would we even go," asked Sans incredulously as he stared back up at the sky. He thought back to all the traveling he had done, he could think of plenty of isolated spots but most of them wouldn't be good places to live. Besides, were they supposed to move away every time some suit decided they needed the space?

"As far as Crier's concerned, we could all go crawling back beneath Mount Ebott," Toriel said grumpily, "honestly Sans, I am not making this up!"

"Sounds like a real mess," said Sans tiredly as he flopped back into his little groove in the ground. He just felt so bone-weary all of a sudden, more so than usual.

"That is why I called actually," Toriel said uncomfortably, "I, I could really use your help."

"You're one of my favorite people," Sans said with a smile. Normally he wouldn't be so eager to share his feelings like that, but it felt good to be honest with her. "Tori, if you need help you only need to ask."

"Thank you Sans," Toriel said with palpable relief. "You have no idea how good it feels to hear you say that!"

"Okay thats enough Tori, out with it," Sans said teasingly, "You don't need to butter me up or anything!"

"Alright," said Toriel with a soft chuckle, "I had a bit of a wake up call with Frisk today. Between classes, and the negotiations, I just haven't been able to spend as much time with her as I should. If you could help keep an eye on her, I certainly wouldn't mind you using the spare bedroom."

"Let me get this straight," said Sans playfully, "I get a comfy bed, and all I have to do is spend time with one of my other favorite people? Oh, I dunno, you might need to talk me into this!"

"Okay then," said Toriel with a restrained giggle, "free food then, and plenty of ketchup."

"It's like you know everything I want in life," said Sans in awe. He smiled as Toriel finally broke down in a fit of giggles, he always enjoyed making this woman laugh, it was just such a warm pleasant sound.

"Oh I am certainly looking forward to having you around," said Toriel as she got herself under control. "When exactly do you think I can be expecting you?"

"I'll probably need to get back to you on that actually," Sans said uneasily as he looked back down at the Scanners readout. "I think I can probably get moving immediately but, there's a chance I might need to take care of something first."

"Oh that's fine," said Toriel agreeably. Sans could practically picture her waving away the concern. "If you could text me when you know, I would really appreciate it."

"Sure thing," he responded warmly, "I should know in the morning."

"Alright then, thank you again," said Toriel happily, "goodnight."

"Goodnight Tori," Sans said fondly as he went to end the call.

Reluctantly he brought his hand up to the phone, hesitating only briefly before clicking the touchscreen. It had been nice to hear a familiar voice after so many months. Not that he hadn't met plenty of cool people while traveling, but he missed his friends. Besides, if he had to answer one more question about how he could eat even though he was a skeleton, somebody was gonna have a bad time! He swallowed, food disappeared; how was he supposed to know where it went after that?

Sans stretched and reached to pick up the Scanners readout, its cord stretched tight as he straightened. He was entirely unsurprised with the machines results, it had been the exact same finding everyday since he began.

Scan concluded: No residual Human Magic use detected.

He sighed and tossed the LCD back to the ground. At least he wouldn't have to wait around before going home, he had to remind himself of that. Reaching into his inner pocket he pulled out a marker and a large folded map. After fumbling with the folds he uncapped the marker and drew a big black X over his current location. The map had a sea of identical marks scribbled all over it.

What a waste of time, Sans thought bitterly to himself as he tucked both items back into his coat pocket. What bothered him the most is that he knew, logically, that there still had to be Human Mages out there. Sure, it sounded like garden variety Humans had turned their attention to them after Monsters had been dealt with, but at least a few had to have survived that. With everyone else so busy, and with no more resets plaguing him, tracking them down seemed like as good a use of his time as any. If they were still out there though, he was pretty certain he wasn't going to find them like this.

Sans struggled to push the negative thoughts from his mind. At least he'd gotten to travel, to see some interesting things, that was something at least. Now though, he was ready to go home.

He brushed off the sand from his sleeves and bent over to pick up the Scanner, he was not gentle as he dropped it in his bicycles sidecar.

* * *

The computer chimed as Alphys finished recalibrating the Core Extractor one last time. Logically she knew it was a bit silly to spend so much time tweaking the machines software, but it wasn't like there was a rush. This invention had occupied her free-time for the last few months, so what if she was wasting the last two hours!

Alphys stretched in her seat as she stared at the laptop's monitor. The numbers looked good to her, they had for awhile in fact. Rationally the only thing left to do was stick her arm in the device and initiate the process. Timidly she turned and looked at the machine on her workbench. It looked like a vice, a big scary black vice dotted with LEDs and surgical tubes, a vice that would wrap around her arm and drain her dry!

Why couldn't I have made this thing less scary looking, Alphys asked herself again. She shook her head and tried to chase away the unpleasant thoughts. She knew full well anything that tapped into the Core Magic of a Monster was going to be scary. This was just one step shy of piercing into a Monster's soul directly; safer design or not nobody was going to be comfortable with that!

Alphys took a breath and rolled up her sleeve, for Asriel's sake she needed to be brave. Tentatively she placed her forearm on the cold surface of the machine, then with only a moment's hesitation she reached over with her other hand and hit a key on her laptop.

The Extractor whirred to life, small LED's blinked on all over its surface as two curved pneumatic clamps slowly encircled Alphys wrist before tightening. She could feel her breathing coming faster as the machine began to make a series of high pitched whirrs; then suddenly Alphys felt her whole body clench as her essence was sucked out of her. It didn't hurt, the machine didn't puncture or damage Monsters like the old tools had, that had been the entire point of making it. Despite that her arm felt icy, tingly, and she could practically feel the color draining from her face. In fact as she stared she could literally see the orange-yellow scales along her arm fade to a duller dingier color.

Alphys shook her head, forcing her eyes onto the beaker attached to the machine through one of its surgical tubes. White glowing liquid slowly dribbled into the beaker, it was her own Core Magic, a substance once valued as priceless by humans for its ability to spur a mages growth. She forced herself to watch the beaker closely, both because it distracted her from the nauseating sensations she was experiencing, and because she needed to be careful not to drain more than she needed. If the old texts were any indication, losing a little Core Magic was mostly harmless, but losing too much too quickly could cause irreversible damage.

"Hey Alphys," came a boisterous female voice from the other room, "I bought that anime you've been wanting!"

"Undyne," Alphys squeaked out in a panic as her tail went rigid! Quickly she checked the clock. They had been planning on watching television together at the apartment, but Undyne wasn't supposed to be here to pick her up for another half hour.

"Hey are you holed up in that messy workshop again?" asked Undyne as her voice grew nearer. "Jeeze Alphys you really need to stop working so hard!"

The pit fell out from Alphys stomach as Undyne casually opened the door.

Alphys held her breath as Undyne stood there, taking in the situation. Under different circumstances Alphys would've loved to sit there and stare at Undyne. She was a tall slender woman dressed in a black t-shirt, jeans, and her trademark eyepatch; and her rich blue scales contrasted sharply with her glossy red hair that she had pulled into a tight ponytail. Overall she was colorful and exotic in a way that even some Humans found eye-catching, at least until they saw her prominent shark-like teeth. Humans were uncomfortable with big sharp teeth, go figure. Right now though, Alphys desperately wished she was somewhere else.

"What the heck are you doing to yourself?" Undyne practically howled, eyes wide. "Get that blasted thing off of your arm!"

"Please, Undyne," said Alphys with a stutter, "I'm fine, I'm almost done."

"No, you're done now," Undyne ordered as she stomped closer, fear and anger blazing in her eyes, "I mean, jeez you look half dead!"

"Careful," Alphys squeaked, motioning to stop with her free hand as Undyne drew near, "Some of this equipment is more fragile than it looks." Undyne stopped abruptly, gritting her teeth visibly as she forced her hands out to her sides; palms exposed.

"Alphys," Undyne said gravely, "turn that thing off, now!"

Without thinking Alphys hit the key-command on her laptop to switch off The Extractor. She hadn't quite gotten as much Core Magic as she wanted, but Alphys knew when Undyne was being pushed too far. The fish woman's breathing had grown louder by the second, and her hands were practically shaking despite their placating position. Alphys quickly hoped that she got her arm free before Undyne hit her limit, she didn't want to be replacing a wall again.

One by one the LEDs dotting the device blinked off as the Extractor cycled down. Despite the setback, she couldn't help feeling relieved as the horrible sensations shooting through her arm receded.

"There, it's done," Alphys said with faked energy as the clamps around her wrists disengaged, " and it doesn't even hurt." She forced a smile as she gingerly stretched out her arm, ignoring the pinpricks shooting up her shoulder as she tried to move normally.

"What the heck was all that?" Undyne demanded as she motioned towards the work table, "you nearly gave me a heart attack!" Alphys winced, she really hadn't meant to make Undyne worry.

"It's all right Undyne, I'm perfectly fine," said Alphys as she slowly stood, ignoring the buckling in her knee. "I just, I needed something for my work," she said as she motioned toward the half full beaker on her work-bench. "This was the only way to get it."

"Okay then," Undyne said as she took a calming breath breath, her fingers planted firmly on her temples, "are you planning to do this again?"

Alphys took a deep breath, squeezing her eyes tight. She desperately wanted to lie, she wanted to tell Undyne that this would all be okay, that this would never happen again; she wanted to pretend that nothing at all was happening.

"Yes, I am," Alphys said somberly as she looked up into Undyne's eyes, "I'm sorry but I have a responsibility, I just have to do this!"

"Alright, I guess I can understand that," said Undyne tiredly as her whole body seemed to deflate, " but can you at least tell me what this is all about?"

"I, I can't," Alphys answered with a meek stutter, unable to look Undyne in the face. "I would if I could, really, but I promised to keep this secret. If the reasons behind why I'm doing this got out, certain people could get hurt."

"Well, I guess if that's the way you feel," Undyne said sadly as her eyes lingered on Alphys. "I guess this is goodbye then."

"Wait," said Alphys with growing dread as Undyne turned to leave the room, "Undyne where, where are you going?"

"Away," said Undyne coldly as she paused in the doorway, "I've got somewhere I can crash."

"Hold on," Alphys pleaded as she took a step forward, "Undyne please, let's just talk about this!"

"There's nothing to talk about,"Undyne spat out the words angrily, nearly snarling as she spun to face Alphys!

Alphys froze, her whole body cringing away as Undyne's gaze settled on her. She realized then, this wasn't annoyance or irritation, this was anger. This was the anger of a woman who had trained all her life to strike people down, and it was aimed directly at her. For a long impossible moment Alphys felt that glare pinning her in place. She struggled to think of something to say, of something she could do to make everything okay; but she had never seen Undyne this upset before, it felt like suddenly being thrown into a vast ocean.

"I'm sorry," Undyne said sadly, her whole body sagging as she turned her glare away, "I shouldn't have yelled at you like that."

"Please," said Alphys with a squeak as she found her breath, "Undyne I don't understand. Can't we just forget about all of this?"

"No Alphys," said Undyne as anger creeped back into her voice, "I respect that you're trying to keep a promise, but you don't get to keep secrets like this." Undyne took a deep breath and turned to look at her. Despite the steel in her voice, Alphys could finally see the hurt in Undyne's eye. "You can't tell someone that you love them, but don't trust them to keep a secret. Not when it's one that affects us both."

"Undyne," said Alphys with a whimper, "I'm sorry it's just-"

"No," Undyne said tiredly, cutting her off, "I really don't think there's anything else to say."

With those final words Undyne walked away, the door slowly closing behind her.


	3. Chapter 3

Undertale: Long Road

By: Nathan Weaver

Chapter 3

Flowey choked, his insides burning as water tried to press its way into his mouth. He was falling, slowly sinking into a black watery expanse. He wanted to scream, to call out for help. Mom, Dad, Frisk, Chara, anyone. He thought the words desperately, he hoped, but he knew it was useless.

So this is it, Flowey thought as his panic gave way to icy calm dread, this is how it ends.

Flowey sucked in cool air, his eyes darting all around the room in frantic jerks. He wasn't drowning, nor was he lost in darkness. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and a far off streetlight shone dimly through the window. He realized he was in the kitchen, Toriel had left him there on the table, and he must have fallen asleep. This was all familiar, common, normal, and nothing was wrong. He couldn't understand what had happened. Why did he feel so unnerved, why was his whole body shuddering?

Was that a nightmare? Flowey shook his head in disgust as he realized that was indeed the word for what he'd just experienced. He hadn't had one of these since before he died, but he still remembered how much they'd upset him. Even near the end he'd never been able to sleep immediately afterward, he'd always gone to Chara and dumped everything on her. He closed his eyes and tried to push that embarrassing memory from his mind.

So stupid, Flowey thought bitterly as he wiped at the hot streaks on his face with a leaf. It's just my mind being stupid, I shouldn't let it bother me! He told himself that, told himself that it was nothing and that he should just go back to sleep. Instead he couldn't stop himself from shaking. With each tick of the clock he found himself more tempted to try something he hadn't done since before he'd come down from Mt. Ebott.

"Chara," Flowey whispered roughly, "Chara are you there?"

"Yes Asriel," I said softly, trying my best to sound soothing as I sat on the wooden kitchen chair that had been pulled out earlier. "I'm here, for what that's worth."

I knew he couldn't see me, nobody could. Even if he somehow did see the red-haired, pale-skinned human girl he'd grown up with, what was he supposed to think about that? I was dead, I was pretty sure I had no soul either, and I'd been the one to get him killed in the first place. Still I had nobody else I could attach myself to at the moment. So I figured I might as well try talking, it wasn't as if I had anything better to do.

"God, I'm so stupid to be doing this again," muttered Flowey in that same quiet pitifully sad whisper he sometimes used when we were kids. The voice he used when he was upset but didn't want Mom and Dad to know. "I know you're not here. That you're gone and I'm talking to the air, but I don't know, maybe this will help me sleep."

"I'm not actually gone you know," I said sounding irritated. I took a deep breath and brought up my right hand. I could see right through my green sweater, my arm, and I could even see through my hand as I stretched out my fingers. "I get your point though," I muttered with a sigh as I rested my arm on the table, "I guess I might as well be gone."

"Do you think that, maybe Alphys is telling the truth?" Flowey asked in a whisper, "that I can really get my soul back?"

"Oh I don't know Asriel!" I groaned back tiredly as I ran my hands through my hair. "I guess it'd be nice, but how am I supposed to know?"

"Yeah, I'm not sure I believe it either," said Flowey with a thin smile. "The Doc, she doesn't exactly inspire confidence."

I couldn't help but grin at that, it was almost like he actually responded to me that time. How many times had that happened since Frisk stopped hearing me? Briefly I considered counting it out but I quickly waved off the idea, I really hadn't kept track.

"What if she's right though?" Flowey asked bitterly, "what if I can take my vitamins and grow a nice healthy soul? How am I supposed to feel about that?"

There was a long painful silence where neither of us said a thing. I could feel the bubbling turmoil of Asriel's emotions pouring off of him. Of all the people I'd attached myself to, Asriel stood out as the one whose thoughts and emotions I had always had the most difficulty feeling. This was probably because his soul was so damaged. Now though, it was hard not to notice the uncertainty and fear pouring off of him.

"Don't get me wrong," said Flowey sadly as he turned to stare out the window, "I want to be happy, and it'd be nice to be able to care about others again."

"What's the problem then?" I asked casually as I tried following my brother's gaze, "it sounds like a good thing."

"But where would that leave me?" Flowey asked in a quiet irritated tone, "If I become Asriel again, does that mean I go away? We're not exactly the same person you know."

"Oh no," I giggled as I struggled to suppress a grin, "My baby brother is having an existential crisis! I knew this day would come!" I knew he couldn't hear me, but I covered my mouth anyway. I knew I should feel bad about not feeling more sympathy for my brother. It's not that I didn't understand why he felt this way, but true empathy is difficult to muster without a soul. Besides, it was difficult to picture my little fuzzy-faced dork of a brother saying something like that. He was always the one trying to cheer me up. So the fact that he'd said it now was, kinda funny.

"I know," Flowey chuckled with a roll of his eyes, "that probably sounds so weird coming from me. Besides, I understand that Asriel and I aren't actually different people."

"No, I guess I kinda get it," I replied as I tried to shake the remains of my smile from my face.

"Here's the thing," Flowey said somberly, "that night a year ago, the night when I became Asriel again. He remembered every little thing I did." Flowey paused for a long time, shutting his eyes tight as he slowly shook his head. "He hated me so much," Flowey continued as he slowly opened his eyes, "I still don't really understand it, but I guess I can't blame him either."

"We've all done things we aren't proud of," I said quietly as I leaned forward, resting my head on my hands, "even Frisk has regrets."

"But, it's weird isn't it?" Flowey asked as he released a deep breath, "wanting to become someone that hates me so much?"

"You and Asriel aren't different people Flowey," I said with a slight roll of my eyes, "you shouldn't act like you are. Asriel just isn't all here right now."

"Yeah, yeah I guess," said Flowey absently as he began a yawn.

I blinked, raising my eyebrows in surprise, had he actually heard me that time? It certainly seemed like he responded, but he couldn't have. I closed my eyes and pushed away any excitement before it could grow any further. It had to have been a coincidence. It'd been almost a year since I could talk to Frisk, so what were the chances that Asriel would suddenly start hearing me now?

"It's so weird," chuckled Flowey tiredly, breaking my train of thought. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you were actually here listening to me."

"Well I am here!" I said harshly as I sat back up, "who do you think you've been talking to?" I knew saying it had been pointless, that it wouldn't change a thing, but I felt so frustrated that it was all I could do not to scream.

"I guess that's just crazy though," Flowey said wistfully as he fought another yawn

"Not as crazy as you think," I grumbled, sounding pathetic even to myself as I squeezed the sides of my head. "C'mon Asriel, just keep talking to me."

"Well," said Flowey quietly as he took a long uncertain pause, "Goodnight Chara."

I sighed loudly and found myself clenching my fists. I knew it had been too much to ask for, but I'd gotten my hopes up. Whether I had a soul or not, not being able to interact with people was incredibly boring. I stared down at Asriel as he closed his eyes and slowly began to sway back and forth, lulling himself to sleep. I reminded myself that I was probably lucky to interact with him as much as I had. Occasionally it would seem like someone had reacted to me, but it was always so fleeting and subtle that I could never be sure.

"Goodnight Asriel," I said with a sigh as I slowly stood from where I sat. "Pleasant dreams bro."

Shaking my head tiredly I walked to the living room and carefully sat down onto the couch. Leaning back I stared up at the ceiling, and did my best to ignore the fact that the cushions under me weren't compressing at all.

If only they could see me, I thought bitterly. Asriel could use the company, Frisk could use the advice, and I was so incredibly tired of being so bored! Instead, I was surrounded by family, and I couldn't interact with them, or even really feel for them in any real way. I was utterly alone, and maybe I even deserved it.

I sighed and laid down on my side, curling up slightly as I tried my best to sleep.

* * *

The motorbike rumbled, the engine pounding as it powered the motorcycle up the winding tree-covered hillside. It was an old mistreated machine, but Sans was pretty sure it'd get him home. Eagleton would be visible just after that next turn up the road, from there he could teleport home, or even walk if he really had to.

Sans shifted his gaze and read a passing road sign, Mount Ebott exit ahead one kilometer. The exit would be blocked of course. The whole area around Ebott had been reclassified as its own sovereign nation after Monsters had re-emerged, much to the annoyance of the locals that lived up here. Sans considered taking a quick swing through the old homestead, but quickly dismissed the idea and kept driving. The place wasn't abandoned, but it sounded like a pretty lonely place these days. Going back would just be depressing, and Sans had had his fill of depressing.

Finally Sans rounded the turn and saw the City below. He signaled and slowly pulled over before carefully removing his helmet. He took a good long look down at his home, his socket lights slowly scanning back and forth. He'd always liked the view up here, the way the sunlight hit the ocean, how it bounced off distant buildings and trees. Up here everything seemed to bask in a peaceful warm glow. Essentially this had been the first sight he'd seen after leaving the Underground, and he really never could get enough of it. Heck, this view had been most of the reason he'd come home this way. That and teleporting to familiar locations was always easier, he'd actually only been driving up this road for a few kilometers.

Sans sighed deeply and slowly strapped his helmet back on. As much as he would've liked to sit and enjoy the view awhile, he had places to be. It'd been almost two days since Toriel had called, and Sans felt like he'd kept her waiting long enough. While crossing continents and oceans in under forty eight hours was quick by human standards, Sans wasn't accustomed to taking so long to get places. This couldn't be helped, Sans hadn't had the magical stamina to teleport directly back to Eagleton from where he'd been. Riding his bike and making many shorter jumps had been the only real option. Even with him making several stops to reset and refuel, he'd really pushed himself.

I'm gonna need one heck of a nap after all this, Sans thought wearily. He took a breath and cleared his mind to cast his teleport spell, Shortcut. He pictured a black featureless canvas and began slowly drawing the intricately curved lines of numerous geometries. Each line was etched into existence in the same intense blue glow as his magical aura. The number of shapes you needed for any spacetime magic was staggering, but soon he had all the lines and symbols he'd need firmly fixed in his mind.

Quickly Sans double-checked everything one last time and then opened his eyes. He imagined that lonely vacant lot a few minutes from Toriels house and surged his magic, feeling it flare within his chest like a furnace.

The world blinked away in a flash of blue and Sans suddenly found himself surrounded by tall grass and weeds, still sitting on his bike. He quickly looked around and confirmed that he was in the right spot. He'd been a little worried that somebody might have built something here while he was gone. If they had it probably would've caused Shortcut to fail, but ending up in some poor saps bathroom was always a possibility.

Five minutes later Sans pulled into the driveway in front of Tori's house, the rumbling of the bike's engine coming to a stop as he killed the ignition. The place was just like he remembered it. It had a big yard with only a few small trees, a white picket fence meant mostly for decoration, and the house itself was large and covered in light pink siding. To Sans it seemed like a pretty modest place for a woman who had so much responsibility, but it was cute and homey and that suited Toriel.

"Uncle Sans!" came a familiar voice as he unfastened his helmet. Sans looked up to see Frisk rushing out to meet him, a wide smile etched her face as her arms swung back and forth. She stopped just short of running into the sidecar, but Sans was certain she would've tackled him if it hadn't been in her way.

"Midgeeeet!" said Sans in drawn-out exaggeration as he raised his hands in mock excitement, "long time no see kiddo!"

"You know that I'm going to be taller than you in a few years, right?"

"Let me have this while I can," Sans groaned as he climbed down from his bike. He wasn't really sore about being short, but Frisk outgrowing him was a sore spot with him for some reason.

"It is good to see you again Sans," came a cheerful and familiar voice. Sans looked over to see Toriel standing in the doorway. She was wearing what looked to him like a colorful but conservative purple and pink two-piece dress that could've been from the middle of the last century.

"Tori," said Sans indecisively as his eyes wandered between Toriel and her dress. "If you don't mind me asking, what's with the outfit? Are you going to a party or something?"

"Oh this," said Toriel as she looked down at her dress. "I will be leaving for a class soon. One of my instructors told me that I should consider dressing less formally." Toriel looked up at Sans with a smile, motioning down at her dress with an uncertain shrug. "So what do you think," Toriel asked self-consciously, "too casual?"

"It looks great," Sans stammered, suddenly feeling like he was surrounded by landmines, "but I think we need to work on your definition of casual."

*I'm going to agree with the comedian this time Mom. You really need to try out a t-shirt or something.

"Come on Uncle Sans," Frisk coaxed eagerly as she grabbed ahold of a wrist and began to pull, "I wanna show you your new room!"

"Whoa there kiddo," said Sans as he pulled Frisk back in place. "I'd love for you to give me the grand tour and all, but I've got a few things to do first." Sans looked over and gently padded the seat of his motorbike. "Wanna help me put ole Betsy here away?"

Frisk paused and looked past Sans at the bike, she scowled as if she was seeing it for the first time.

"Uncle Sans," Frisk said as she looked up at the skeleton with a perplexed look on her face, "your motorcycle is hideous!"

"Hey it's a classic!" Sans stated defensively as she stared back at Frisk. "The guy that sold it to me said it was the same bike they used in some old movie, Indiana Jones and the something or other."

"Yeah it looks pretty similar," Frisk said as she absently scratched the back of her head with her free hand. "It also looks like somebody tried spray-painting it neon green!" She was right of course. Thankfully whoever had this bright idea hadn't gone after the seat, and the spray paint had faded and peeled in a lot of places. Still, there were splotches of bright sickly green all over the original faded black paint-job.

"Well what can I say kiddo," Sans said with a sigh, "there's a reason I got this cheap."

Sans huffed a minute later as he and Frisk finished pushing his motorbike into the garage. I really need to work out more, Sans thought wearily as he put his ride into park. Not that he would ever actually exercise. He was far too lazy for that.

"Thanks for getting the door Tori," Sans wheezed as he straightened and took a deep breath. "Ugly or not, I'd hate to see somebody try to steal this thing."

"It was no trouble Sans," said Toriel with a smile as she stood looking down from the doorway leading to the kitchen, "I just wish I could spend more time helping you settle in before I had to go."

"Oh don't worry about it," Sans replied with a wave of his hand as he walked around the bike and towards the door, "It's not like I packed heavily or anything."

"Hey Uncle Sans," Frisk asked curiously from behind him, "what's this thing?" Sans turned to see Frisk running her hands along the edge of the Magic Detectors curved dish, her eyes scanning up and down the machines curves and corners. "This thing looks kinda cool," Frisk said with a grin, "what does it do?"

"Oh, that," Sans muttered as he began to wave around his hands theatrically, "well it's a marvelous device that makes my time disappear!"

"Wait, really?" Frisk asked as she turned to look at Sans with a skeptical grin.

"Kinda," said Sans with a shrug, "I uh, guess you could say it's a science project that didn't work out." Sans paused as he slowly shifted back and forth from foot to foot uneasily. He was never really comfortable showing off just how much about science he knew. "Hey, I know," Sans added warmly as he walked back up to his bike, "Why don't you give me a hand putting that away while you're here?"

"Oh sure," replied Frisk as she backed away to make space for Sans. "Do you want it inside, or on the workbench?"

"The workbench is fine by me," said Sans as he bent at the knees, "I might want to tinker with this thing out here."

"Would you happen to need a hand?" Toriel asked from the doorway as she rubbed her hands together anxiously, "I would hate to stand idle while I was needed."

"Don't sweat it Tori," grunted Sans as he and Frisk hefted the Scanner upwards, "I'm sure the kid and I can handle it." If he was being honest, he could have managed moving the scanner just fine by himself, it was more bulky than heavy. Frisk helping just meant less work for him.

Frisk grunted quietly as she hefted alongside Sans. Their arms and legs frequently collided into the others as they clumsily walked the device across the room with short uncoordinated steps. Sans amended his earlier thought as they lifted the machine up onto the bench, it probably would've been easier to carry the machine alone.

"There we go," Sans huffed as he wiped his bony hands together, "Thanks for the help kiddo, I really appreciate it."

"No problem Uncle Sans," said Frisk absently as she reached down and grabbed the swinging control panel that was still tethered to the device.

"Okay you two," said Toriel with a smile as she walked back into the kitchen, "now that you have that out of the way, let us get you both fed before I leave."

"You don't need to do that," Sans protested as he walked up the steps into the kitchen, "I'm sure I can scrounge something together."

"Oh just let her!" groaned a familiar high voice sarcastically, "I'm sure she lives for stuff like this."

Sans froze mid stride and turned to see a familiar golden flower sitting on the counter-top. It stared back at him with a wide smile, it's eyes shining with mischief.

"Hey chuckles," Flowey said with a curved mocking grin, "miss me?"

"Not next time," Sans threatened coldly, as a dagger like bone materialized in his hands.

"Sans," Toriel snapped as she stared back at Sans disapprovingly, her hands planted on her hips. "I know you two do not get along, but could you please not murder our other house guest!"

Sans quickly tore his gaze from the flower, the bone dagger disappearing as he rubbed at the back of his skull in embarrassment. This was another side of himself he didn't like other people seeing, but seeing that creature again had gotten to him. Honestly, he wasn't even entirely certain why seeing Flowey always set him off, but he had his suspicions.

"I'm sorry Tori," Sans said sheepishly as he rubbed at the back of his skull, "guess I was just a bit surprised. I really didn't think he'd stick around this long."

"I suppose I could understand that," sighed Toriel, her voice softening as she turned toward the fridge, "but this will not be a problem, will it?"

"I'll be on my best behavior!" Sans promised as he waved away the concern. "Besides, the creepy little guy can be charming enough, in an unholy abomination sort of way."

"I'm right here you know," Flowey said stiffly, clearly annoyed.

"Huh, so you are."

* * *

Sans scraped up the last of the ketchup off his plate and tossed the final reddened bit of sandwich into his mouth. It was a shame that Toriel hadn't been able to stick around, but it was good food regardless. The company was good too, mostly. Sans loved answering the kiddo's questions, and she loved hearing about all the different ways people had freaked when they'd met him. Even having Flowey around wasn't too bad. The little weirdo was just sitting on his side of the table minding his own business, slowly sipping soda through a straw.

"So Uncle Sans," Frisk asked as she grabbed one of her last potato chips, "Did you get to see anything cool while you were gone?"

"Cool how kiddo?" Sans replied absently as he swallowed his last bit of sandwich. "Norway in January was pretty cool."

"You know that isn't what I meant," Frisk said with a chuckle as she grinned up at her honorary uncle, "I mean, did you get to see anything like, Stonehenge, or the Eiffel Tower?"

"Yea, those were pretty neat," said Sans with a smile as he leaned back in his seat. "Personally I think I got a bigger kick out of Vegas. If somebody told me Mettaton had designed that place, I think I might've actually believed it!"

"Wait, Las Vegas?" Frisk asked with a raise of her eyebrows, "just how far did you get on that bike?!"

"Pretty far!" Sans stated theatrically as he wiped the crumbs from his hands, "You'd be shocked just how far a tank of gas will get you"

"Oh yeah right!" Flowey snapped as he glared at Sans. "Do you really expect us to believe that you drove across the ocean on a motorcycle!?"

"Please Flowey," said Frisk uneasily with a loud sigh, "could you, I dunno, just let Sans talk I guess?" Sans blinked, looking back and forth between the two.

Okay that's strange, Sans thought as his gaze settled on Frisk. She was usually so much more confident and assertive than that, especially with Flowey. Sans shook his head and forced the thought from his mind. That had been unusual for Frisk, but he was sure he was reading too much into it.

"Well your creepy little buddy is right of course," said Sans with a shrug as his gaze settled back on Flowey. "I didn't ride my bike across the ocean."

"Oh, well that's a bit misleading don't you think?" Flowey asked with a knowing grin. "Hey, maybe you're just so used to hiding, that you can lie without thinking about it! Does that sound possible to you, Uncle Sans?"

Sans took a deep breath and clenched his fist. He didn't appreciate being called a liar. Sure he had misled people from time to time, but not about anything important. He just didn't like talking about certain things is all. Avoiding those things didn't seem like too much to ask for.

"Could we not do this," groaned Frisk tiredly as she visibly deflated, "I just want to talk!"

Welp, that settles that, Sans thought as he looked back at Frisk, there is definitely something up with these two! He paused and took a long sip of soda, taking the time to mull things over. Strictly speaking he was pretty sure Frisk didn't need his advice. She was smart so she'd eventually figure things out on her own. That said, he knew he was supposed to be looking out for her, he'd traveled halfway around the world in under forty eight hours to do just that. He figured he might as well do a little while he was here.

"So kiddo," Sans asked casually as he put down his drink, "what've you and Little Miss Sunshine here been upto lately? Must be something good, seeing as you're so clearly torn up about it!"

"Oh nothing much," Frisk replied nervously as she waved away the question, "the same old stuff."

"Oh, the same old stuff, a classic evasion line!" said Sans jovially as his eyes sparked, "whatever it is, it's gotta be good! So what is it, you two have your first kiss or something?"

"Euugh!" gagged Flowey loudly from across the table as he stuck his tongue out in disgust.

"That's just gross!" said Frisk as she shook her head back and forth vigorously, eyes scrunched tight.

"Well I guess that's not it!" chuckled Sans with a slight roll of his shoulders. That had been more of a reaction than he expected, especially from Flowey. He'd never suspected that the flower was a child, though he supposed it kinda made sense. "Really though," he said with a slight shake of his head, his gaze traveling back and forth between Frisk and Flowey, "are you two going to tell me what's up, or am I gonna have to guess?"

"It's nothing!" Frisk and Flowey exclaimed in unison before stopping to look at each other with perplexed expressions.

"Well, looks like I'll be guessing then," sighed Sans as he shrugged with his hands, "let me know if any of this sounds familiar to you two."

Sans took a deep breath and looked across the table at his silent audience. Both seemed like they were biting their tongues so to speak, and Frisk wouldn't look at him directly. He shrugged mentally and cleared his throat. Neither seemed happy but it seemed like they'd let him speak at least.

"So I'm guessing you two had a fight," said Sans thoughtfully as he slowly waved around his finger like a lazy orchestra conductor. "Frisk, you're feeling all twisted up about it for some reason. So you're walking around on eggshells, hoping it'll pass, am I right?"

"That's, pretty close actually," muttered Frisk quietly as she stared at her lap.

"Well," said Sans as he shrugged tiredly, "kinda sounds like something you two should talk about then."

* * *

Frisk closed the door to the dishwasher after loading the last plate. After quickly checking the settings, she casually reached down and pressed the button to start the load. Lunch had been nice, but Sans needed to rest and Frisk figured she probably shouldn't leave a mess for Toriel.

"Alright, that's done," said Frisk brightly as the appliance whirred to life behind her. "Do you think Mom would like it if we vacuumed while she was gone?"

"Frisk," Flowey said flatly as he stared the girl from his spot on the counter. "You vacuumed yesterday, and took out the trash, sorted the recycling, did the laundry, organized the closet, and sorted Toriel's coin jar by year!"

"It's not like I have anything else to do!" stated Frisk defensively as she leaned back against the fridge, "and I'm sure Mom appreciates it."

"Golly, if you say so," said Flowey sarcastically with a roll of his eyes. "I'm sure this has nothing to do with that little incident the other day, the way you've been avoiding me, or the fact that I've had to sleep in the kitchen the past few nights!" Flowey inhaled deeply as he finished the sentence and stared at Frisk, but with each breath his energy seemed to leak away. "By the way," he added listlessly as he turned to look at the floor, "Could you drop off the Gameboy? It can get boring down here at night."

"I'm sorry!" groaned Frisk as she pressed the palms of her hands against her head, "I'm not going to leave you alone again!" Frisk shook her head and scolded herself for being so selfish. The whole point of bringing Flowey down from Mt. Ebott had been so he didn't have to be alone. Sure she just wanted time to sort some things out, but she shouldn't have left him by himself.

"Oh don't get like that Frisk," snapped Flowey in embarrassment as he quickly sat up bolt-straight, "It's not as if I can't handle being alone or anything!"

"Baka," Frisk added quietly as she hid her grin with her free hand.

"Wait, what?" Flowey asked uncertainly as he looked at Frisk with a confused expression.

*Oh Asriel, you truly are the most tsundere of plants.

"It's nothing," Frisk said quickly, waving of her hand as she struggled to reign in her expression, "you just reminded me of something is all." Frisk reminded herself that she really needed to spend less time watching anime with Alphys.

"Okay look," sighed Flowey impatiently with a shake of his head, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but maybe we actually should talk about this."

"Alright, I guess we'll talk" said Frisk with a defeated sigh as she threw up her hands her hands in surrender. "But could we do this outside at least? I think I could use some air for this."

"Well," stammered Flowey as he slowly blinked, "I guess, I mean it doesn't bother me any."

"Okay then."

Moments later Frisk found herself sitting down on the white painted wooden steps of the back porch. Carefully she sat Flowey down beside her as a gentle breeze blew through his petals.

Frisk took a deep breath and filled her lungs with fresh grass scented air as she looked out across the yard and up and Mount Ebott in the distance. She found herself smiling faintly, she often found herself staring up at that mountain when she wasn't feeling like herself. She knew it was strange, but despite all the scary things that had happened, she mostly looked back on her adventure underground fondly. That was when she'd found her family after all.

"So, how's the air treating you?" asked Flowey restlessly as he glanced at the mountain.

"I guess it helps," Frisk answered uncertainly with a shrug of her shoulders, "this sort of stuff isn't easy to talk about."

"Tell me about it!" said Flowey as he let out a long huff of air. "Frisk, let's grab some strawberry ice cream and talk about our feelings!"

"Yeah," chuckled Frisk with a brief bounce of her shoulders, "the whole thing seems silly when you put it like that."

"It kinda is," said Flowey as he made a shrugging motion with his head, "I don't even feel that much, and this still seems awkward to me!"

"I'm glad I'm not the only one then," Frisk stated as she took another deep breath, "I'm not even sure how to begin." Which was no exaggeration. Frisk knew all too well that while she was pretty good at talking to others, she wasn't as comfortable talking about herself.

"Heck if I know either," said Flowey as he slowly raised his eyebrows, "we kinda suck at this!"

"Yes," Frisk declared with a tired smile "yes we do!" Frisk let out a breath of relief as a degree of tension drained away. Oddly enough, admitting this was difficult seemed to make talking about it a little less daunting.

"So, what happened then?" Flowey asked uneasily. "I couldn't have scared you that badly, you've seen way worse than that!"

"Scared isn't the right word," answered Frisk with an uncertain shrug. "You kinda startled me I guess. Maybe I convinced myself that you just couldn't act like that anymore."

"Well that bubble's been burst," Flowey said sarcastically as he let out a breath. "I mean geeze Frisk, you know I'm trying but-"

"Yeah I know," said Frisk with a grimace as she covered her face in her hands, "It was dumb, okay! I shouldn't have freaked out, and I shouldn't have left you alone. I'm just a great big hypocrite!"

"Oh-kay," Flowey drawled as he furrowed his brows, "I think you just lost me. What the heck do you mean by hypocrite?"

Frisk inhaled deeply, desperate to steel her nerves as she felt her heart beat loudly in her chest. She realized on a certain level that she must've known this would come up. That if she said what was really bothering her, it'd mean talking about something she'd been trying to avoid.

"You know what I did Flowey," Frisk said weakly as she took another breath. She closed her eyes and quickly opened them again as memories of fine white dust floating in a dimly lit corridor haunted her mind. "It was in that first timeline that I reset," she added before she could lose her nerve, "I killed Mom." She felt her stomach twist as the words left her mouth, but at least they'd finally been said.

Frisk could still remember it all too clearly. When she had first fallen into the Underground, all she cared about was escaping. When Mom had found her, had tried to take her in, initially she hadn't really believed that Toriel was looking out for her. So when Mom kept her from leaving, and asked Frisk to fight and prove she could survive, she didn't hesitate long.

With a tremor of fear she tightened her grip on her stick till her fingers went white, and swung it at Toriel with an unsteady hand. She hadn't really meant to hurt her, not that badly anyway. Despite that, after what felt like only a moment, Toriels body began collapsing into ghostly white dust right in front of her. Even then Mom wasn't angry, instead she just looked at Frisk with those kind deep red eyes and pleaded with her to be good.

"You undid that," Flowey said hotly, snapping Frisk out from her memories, "you turned back time and made it so that never even happened."

"Of course I know that," she answered tiredly as she stared down at her lap, "but even if Mom doesn't remember it, I still killed her. How can I judge you so harshly when I've done something so horrible?"

"Not that I want you judging me, but there's no comparison here Frisk," said Flowey seriously as he slowly shook his head, "I've done so much worse."

"Do you really believe that?" Frisk asked weakly. "Everyone always tells me how good I am, but I had so much power, I could've hurt so many people down there!"

"Oh just spare me!" Flowey groaned as he glared up at Frisk. "Maybe you could have, but you didn't. After fixing things with Toriel, you couldn't harm a fly."

"Well, maybe you're right," said Frisk softly as she let out a long breath, "but I still feel bad about what I did."

"I don't know what to tell you," Flowey said tiredly, "wouldn't you normally tell somebody you're sorry, or something?"

"Mom doesn't remember, so I'm not sure how I can," Frisk said with a half-hearted shrug. For better or worse not many people could really remember any of the previous timelines. Frisk knew that this probably spared most people a lot of pain, but there were times she really wished she had had someone she could talk to about it.

"Well I remember," Flowey muttered as he slowly shifted about uncomfortably, "you could tell me you're sorry, I guess."

"Because, you're the only one that remembers?" Frisk asked as she looked down at her friend, "is that it?" She mulled the idea over, slowly tilting her head from side to side. It wasn't exactly the same thing as apologizing to Mom, but she supposed it would at least be a start.

"Something like that I guess," Flowey answered stiffly, his petals almost seeming to bristle, "I'm kinda making this up as I go along."

"Well I like it," Frisk said with a faint smile as she scratched at her scalp, "It's kinda thoughtful." Idly she wondered if perhaps Flowey's treatment wasn't having more of an effect then she'd thought. Sure he wasn't exactly being nice, but it was rare to see him making this much of an effort.

"Oh I know that look!" groaned Flowey with a shake of his head, "don't read too much into this!"

"Okay okay, I won't," Frisk said with a smile as she raised her hands in surrender, "but you know, it's a good idea. How about you forgive me, if I forgive you?"

"For everything?" Flowey asked with a raise of an eyebrow.

"Yeah sure, everything" she said with a nod, "I already forgave Asriel, that's practically the same thing."

"Well, okay then," said Flowey uncertainly as his whole body slowly twisted about uncomfortably, "you're forgiven, I guess." The words may not have seemed like much, but Frisk felt a certain weight she'd been holding fall away as she'd heard them.

"I forgive you too Flowey," said Frisk with a smile as a little more tension drained from her shoulders, "and I'm sorry I've been such a pain these past few days!" Frisk took a deep breath and savored the relief. She knew this wasn't the end of it, that her mistakes would always bother her, but this felt like it would help some.

"Eh, like I'd be one to talk," Flowey replied with an indifferent shrug. "Just to be certain though, this means I get my spot in your room back, right?"

"Yes Flowey," she chuckled as a strong breeze blew across the lawn, "You get your spot back."

* * *

Sans woke slowly with a rough groan. Slowly he stretched out his limbs as he forced himself to sit up in bed. He looked around the room with dazed eyes, but nothing clicked in his half asleep mind until his gaze finally stumbled onto his phone on the nightstand. Sluggishly he reached out and wrapped his bony fingers around the device, bringing it up to his face. More out of habit than conscious thought, he tapped on an app that would remotely access something he still had running under Mt. Ebott.

Yawning, he carelessly dropped the phone to the floor after seeing a single smooth line running across the black and white grid on his screen. There were no timelines jumping left and right, stopping and starting only to come to an abrupt end. The timeline was as whole and healthy as it could be. He hadn't really expected anything else, but over the past year this had become his de-facto morning routine, even when it wasn't really morning.

Back before the barrier was broken, he had discovered that something was manipulating the timeline. That something was splitting it, fraying it, resetting it, until it resembled one of his brothers spaghetti dinners. Living with the knowledge that at any accomplishment he made could be instantly undone, had been nearly crippling to him. He'd only fairly recently become comfortable with the idea that all that was finally over, but he figured a little fear would always nag him.

Sans sighed and shook the remaining grogginess from his mind as he slowly pulled himself out of bed. A quick glance out the window confirmed that it was sundown, and that he'd slept for a good large part of the day. Judging by how tired he still felt, he was sure he'd needed it. Despite that, he figured it wouldn't be good to leave Frisk alone any longer than he already had.

Sans yawned again and stretched his spine as he looked into the mirror mounted above the dark wooden dresser. Eyeing his reflection, it occurred to him that the t-shirt had seen better days. He supposed it shouldn't have been a surprise. Skeleton Monsters may not sweat like humans do, but he had been wearing this same shirt for a few weeks now. The shirt had clearly picked up more than it's fair share of dirt, sand, and assorted stains over that time.

He looked around for the backpack where he kept his spare set of clothes, and realized that he must've left it in the sidecar of his motorcycle.

My aren't we boneheaded today, Sans thought with a silent chuckle as he rapped the side of his skull with his knuckles, I don't even have any humerus jokes for the occasion.

With a sigh he turned to leave the room and walk downstairs, the floor creaking only slightly as he passed through the doorway. He stopped briefly on his way to the garage to find out where Frisk had gotten off to. After catching sight of her in the backyard through the kitchen window, he quickly resumed walking to his destination.

Sans opened the garage door and immediately spotted his blue overfilled backpack stuffed into the sidecar of his motorcycle. He walked forward, the bones of his feet clacking on concrete as he grabbed the sack with a single hand. He turned to walk back inside, but paused as a quick series of three high-pitched beeps echoed from somewhere in the room.

"What the heck was that?" Sans muttered as he looked for the source of the noise, scanning his head left and right. A moment later he heard it again, a quick sequence of three high-pitched beeps that echoed annoyingly. He turned to follow the noise and blinked as his gaze settled on the rounded dish of the Magic Detector, still sitting on the workbench.

Oh, I see, thought Sans as walked around his motorcycle and approached the lit up device. He realized that Frisk must have played with the controls after he went inside earlier. He chuckled quietly at the thought as he picked up the touchscreen tethered to the device. While he didn't like the kiddo snooping around, he supposed there was no harm done.

Still, he was curious why the thing was beeping. The machine was designed to beep when its onboard computer displayed certain messages, but over the months he'd forgotten which beeps meant what. Mostly it was supposed to beep when there were errors, but he'd also programmed it to beep when there was a positive scan as well. Sans read the message on the screen and froze as his fingers tightened on the panel.

Multiple human magic use traces detected.

Sans reread the message and quickly scanned some of the detailed numbers accompanying it before finally setting the control panel down.

Relax, he thought to himself as he began to rub at the side of his skull, it's probably just an error. He told himself that again, but somehow he just couldn't bring himself to believe it.


	4. Chapter 4

Undertale: Long Road

By: Nathan Weaver

Chapter 4

* * *

Classical rock played on the jukebox sitting along the far wall next to the bar. The happy ambient rumble of dozens of people talking filled the atmosphere of the restaurant pleasantly. Patrons of all different colors and species sat on red faux-leather bar stools, or in richly furnished wooden booths. On one wall a neon pink light that simply read Grillby's in wavy stylized letters was lit up for everyone to see. It was one of the few decorations the owner brought with him when he moved his pub to the surface.

In this day and age this was an uneventful scene, mostly. Even the the blue-scaled fish woman and her furry dining companion sitting in a far off booth seemed pretty ordinary to the other people eating.

"I thought Alphys would've talked to me by now," Undyne sighed as she stared down at her cell phone history, "I really miss her."

"Yes you miss her, yes you wish she would call, I'm pretty sure you already established this," said a tiny high-pitched voice with a sigh, "that doesn't tell me what you're going to order though!"

Undyne glared down at cat creature propped up in a booster seat and gritted her teeth. Once again she asked herself why she kept trying to talk about sensitive stuff with the little furball. Tilin could be pleasant enough, but she was painfully blunt.

Tilin was a small black and white housecat, or she would've been if she didn't talk, walk on two legs, and carry a pint-sized katana on her back. She had gold eyes, a heart-shaped patch of white fur on her chest, and a mask of white across her face.

"Who cares what I eat!" Undyne said with an annoyed groan, "if you're so impatient, then you order!"

"Alright," Tilin sneered as she pointed at the menu, "how about I start you off with a nice sushi platter!"

"Hoy!" Undyne said as she shot bolt upright, her menu falling to the floor, "that's not funny, that's almost cannibalism!"

"Yeah well, I can't help teasing you when you get all mopey!" Tilin said with a self-satisfied smile. "Besides, you were like this the last time we met for lunch too! I mean jeez, lighten up already!"

"Yeah well, I'm kinda working through some stuff right now," said Undyne as she bent over to pick up her menu off the ground, "so sue me."

"Ugh, I'll never understand couples," groaned Tilin as she looked over the menu, her tail lashing about in annoyance. "If being on the outs with Alphys is so hard for you, why don't you just go apologize?"

"I've gotta know why she would do that to herself!" said Undyne as she let out a breath. Idly she closed her eyes and pictured seeing Alphys in her workshop, her face sickly, her arm oddly colorless. "Besides," she muttered as she snapped her eyes back open with a shake of her head, "it's not like I can back down now."

"Ho ho, now that I do understand!" Tilin said with a nod as she laid her menu aside, "neither of us could ever back down from a challenge!"

"Oh get over yourself!" chuckled Undyne with a shake of her head. Tilin never passed up an opportunity to remind Undyne that they were both in the now-disbanded Royal Guard. What's more, the little furball seemed to think they were rivals somehow. "You were a rookie Tilin, I don't think you ever even saw combat!"

"A minor setback!" Tilin almost yelled as she glared at Undyne, "or at least it would've been if the barrier hadn't been broken!"

"Don't tell me you wish we were all still stuck down there!" Undyne said through a forced grin.

"Oh of course not!" the cat replied with a sigh and a shrug of her arms. "Sure would've been nice if that human friend of yours could've waited a year or two though."

"I see you two are back again," came a perky young feminine voice from down the aisle. Both Undyne and Tilin turned to see a young dark-skinned woman with hair pulled into a bun walking down the aisle toward them. She carried a pad and pen and was wearing a white button-down shirt and black formal vest, the traditional bartenders outfit that'd become the defacto uniform for Grillby's.

"Denise!" Tilin said with a smile as she leaned forward in her booster seat and handed the waitress her menu. "How are you, still enjoying the new job?"

"Oh it's still a blast," the young woman replied with a bright toothy smile as she reached for the menu. "Working with Monsters is so weird, in a good way!"

"I wish more people had your attitude kid," Undyne said returning the smile before looking back to the menu.

"I don't think I'm all that unusual," Denise said with a shake of her head. "It's hard not to like you guys, especially when you see lovable dorks like that skeleton guy on television." Undyne grinned at the statement and scratched at her scalp. Lovable dork was a pretty good description for Papyrus, she would never have guessed he'd be such a big hit with humans. "So, have you two decided what you're going to order yet?"

"All-Day Cinnamon Stackers!" Tilin said in a rhythmic sing song fashion, like a radio jingle, "and bring an extra serving of that Buttermilk Syrup you guys make, that stuff is so good!"

"Alright I got it," said the waitress with a restrained chuckle, "how about you?"

"A medium steak, and steamed potatoes on the side," Undyne answered with a half shrug as she handed the menu back to Denise.

"Same thing as last time for both of you," said Denise with a shake of her head, "It's a wonder why you two even bother to look at the menu!"

Both monsters shrugged without saying a word as the waitress turned to walk down the aisle of tables, the clack of her heels still audible on the hardwood despite the chatter of the environment. Denise's comment suddenly made Undyne feel like she was a creature of habit. She didn't like to think of herself like that; but meeting up for lunch with old Royal Guard buddies had been part of her routine since Grillby's had reopened. She supposed that might seem sad in some ways, especially since it'd been weeks since anyone other than Tilin had actually shown up. Undyne wondered if maybe it was time to break this particular habit and move on.

"So, what is it that you see in that girl anyway?" Tilin asked as began to tap the tips of her claws atop the table in apparent boredom.

"What, you mean Alphys?"

"Yeah," Tilin said in an indifferent shrug as she looked down at the table. "She just seems, I dunno, high maintenance?"

"If anything it's the other way around," Undyne answered with a chuckle, "I don't know how I'd get by without her sometimes!"

"Alright you're going to have to explain this to me," said Tilin dryly as she raised a skeptical brow. "You're the, unstoppable Undyne," she said with a smirk and she made little air quotes with her paws, "how can someone like you possibly need a nerd like Alphys?"

"You really are pushing it today furball!" Undyne growled out through gritted teeth as she glared at the grinning feline. She took a breath and reminded herself that this was typical for Tilin. She didn't know if the little maniac truely didn't understand tact, was trying to get to her, or both. Either way, there'd be no end of it if she let Tilin rile her up now. "Okay look," said Undyne as she took a deep breath, "Keep in mind I'm a nerd too, I just also happen to be kickass."

"And you're just so incredibly humble too," Tilin chuckled dryly.

"Yeah well whatever, I am a nerd!" Undyne continued with an emphatic wave of her hands. "I've been to four anime conventions in the past year. I play videogames, I cosplay, I even started an ask blog!"

"You mean the one where you're role-playing as yourself?" Tilin asked with a tilt of her head.

"Look, my point is that I'm a geek!" Undyne said with a sigh as she dropped her hands down onto the table. "Alphys understands that, and she's smart, passionate, and she's willing to share her interests with me. I don't get that from too many people, and it feels nice being treated like a person."

"I'm sorry, what did you just say?" Tilin asked incredulously, her eyes narrowed as her tail twitched in annoyance. "Are you honestly telling me that nobody in the Royal Guard treated you like a person?" Undyne winced at the statement, she hadn't exactly meant it like that but she wasn't really sure how to explain how she felt. Words weren't exactly her thing.

"Okay look," said Undyne with uncertainty as she scratched at her scalp, "How many times have you challenged me to a duel this year, Tilin?"

"Three times," she answered coldly as she blew out her breath in annoyance, "not that you ever accepted any of those challenges."

"Ignore that," Undyne said with a wave of the hand, "does that seem normal behavior to you? It's the same way with most the people in my life. You think of me as a rival, most of the Royal Guard think of me as the boss. Alphys, I can just relax and be myself when I'm around her!"

"So you're with her because, she helps you relax?"

"I enjoy being with her, isn't that enough?" Undyne asked with a shrug.

"Don't ask me," Tilin answered as she let out an annoyed breath, "I really don't understand couples, remember?"

A long awkward moment passed before the familiar sound of clacking heels against hardwood rang in Undyne's ears. Both Monsters turned to see the waitress Denise approaching with a tray of food held high in one hand. She had the same friendly grin from earlier still etched on her face.

"Alright you two," said Denise as she started placing plates atop the table, "lunch is served!"

Undyne could practically taste the scent of savory, well-seasoned beef as her steak was set in front of her. The aroma instantly made her mouth water. Steak and potatoes had become one of Undyne's special things after coming to the surface. This was especially true after Grillby had learned how to prepare the meal magically.

Most Monsters could eat food prepared by humans, but it didn't always agree with them. Almost any Monster could eat food prepared magically however. On top of that, magical food didn't need to be digested, converted to energy instantly, could heal minor injuries, replenished magical stamina, and never made you fat. Given a choice, even humans prefered magically prepared foods, at least on the occasions that they could get it. There wasn't really enough to go around yet.

"Food food fooooood!" Tilin sang out happily, nearly purring as her huge feline eyes locked on the towering stack of golden pancakes in front of her. "Denise, I, I think I want to hug you right now!"

"I'm not sure that'd be good for your image," the waitress said with a chuckle.

"Yes, yes of course," Tilin said as she took a deep breath, "I must remain strong, and console myself with syrup-soaked goodness!"

The rest of the meal was uneventful, mostly. Tilin seemed to have a fixation with cutting her pancakes with her little katana instead of her knife; but besides that, it was perfectly uneventful.


	5. Chapter 5

Undertale: Long Road

By: Nathan Weaver

Chapter 5

* * *

Frisk looked up from her seat and smiled as she saw Alphys enter the exam room. She could easily see the clear bottle of glowing white pills the sorian scientist held in her free hand.

Alphys had started Flowey on his new medication last week. She even tested the dosage right there in this very exam room. It had been a good thing too, because Flowey had begun to hum Christmas carols uncontrollably within fifteen minutes of swallowing that first large pill. Suffice to say, Alphys had sent Frisk home with considerably smaller pills after that.

"Hi Frisk," Alphys said with a yawn as she slowly moved a few steps closer, "sorry for keeping you waiting."

"Oh it's fine," said Frisk cheerfully as she smiled at her friend, "how have you and Undyne been doing? I don't think I've seen her lately."

"Oh uh, yeah she's okay," Alphys muttered uncomfortably as she averted her gaze.

"Is something wrong?"

"No no, it's nothing really" she quickly said with a forced smile."So, how's the new medicine been working out, notice anything strange?"

"You mean besides my little musical number?" Flowey answered sarcastically as he glared at Alphys. "nah, that stuff doesn't affect me at all!"

"I have to shut him in my room for an hour every morning," Frisk said with a quick glare down at Flowey, "he still gets a bit, uh, chatty with those pills."

"Chatty how?" asked Alphys with a raise of her eyebrow.

"Oh he gets bubbly and starts going on about, almost anything," Frisk said with a grin as she slowly shook her head. Thinking back on it, she couldn't help but smile; every morning it was like Flowey became an excited little kid for awhile. "The whole thing's kinda cute actually."

"I am not cute," Flowey muttered sullenly, "I am mighty."

"Oh, I um, I see," Alphys said uncomfortably as she covered the grin on her face. "So, what about the rest of the time, any changes there?"

"I don't really think so," Frisk answered thoughtfully as she poured back over the week. "I think he might have been a bit calmer, maybe."

"Well that's good I suppose," Alphys muttered as she scribbled onto her clipboard. "How about you Flowey, have you noticed any changes recently?"

"Oh, I just know you're going to make too big of a deal out of this!" Flowey said with a sigh, clearly reluctant to continue. "I guess I've started having dreams again."

"Whoa wait, what?" Alphys asked with wide eyes as she looked up from her clip-board. "Prince, that actually is a pretty big deal!"

"Don't call me prince!" groaned Flowey with a roll of his eyes, "and I don't see how it's a big deal."

"Well, if you were human it wouldn't be," Alphys said with a shake of her head. "With humans, dreaming is something their brain does. With monsters, dreams come directly from our souls. It's literally something our souls do when they're trying to tell us something."

"So what does that mean?" asked Frisk as she leaned forward slightly, clearly interested. She never heard this about monsters before, and it seemed really interesting to her. Plus she was really eager to hear any good news about Flowey. As determined as Frisk was to help him, several months without any real improvement had been discouraging.

"It probably means his soul is regaining some functionality," Alphys answered with an uneasy shrug, "or it could mean nothing. Strictly speaking I don't really know how Flowey, thinks."

"Are you implying that I'm brainless?" Flowey asked icily as he glared up at Alphys with narrowed eyes.

"Well," Alphys began unsteadily, "objectively speaking-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence!"

"I think it's time to move on with the exam," Alphys said quickly, her voice cracking slightly as she flinched away from the plants glare. Frisk could practically feel Flowey growling through the base of his pot, and his entire body was rigid. It was pretty clear that she and Alphys had pushed Flowey just a bit too far this time.

"You're both teasing me today!" Flowey complained bitterly, not letting up his glare.

"Yes, I know Flowey," said Frisk apologetically as she stood, "and we shouldn't have, I'm sorry. Just be good for the rest of the exam, and I'll buy you a float later."

"Really?" Flowey asked hopefully as he turned to look up at Frisk. Flowey couldn't really handle eating a lot of solids, but if you could drink it, chances are he could handle it. Sweet drinks like floats were something that he was especially fond of.

"Sure," Frisk said as she looked down at Flowey with a smile, "just behave for a little while longer, and I'll have Uncle Sans swing by somewhere on our way home."

"Okay fine," grumbled Flowey as he turned back towards Alphys.

Frisk carefully reached out and placed Flowey in Alphy's outstretched hands. The scientist visibly stiffened as Flowey's pot fell into her fingers. She quickly turned around and placed the plant into the same bathroom scale-looking device she used whenever she wished to examine Flowey's soul.

For the next several minutes Frisk sat patiently while Alphys hurriedly scribbled down numbers on her clipboard and muttered indistinctly. By now this routine had become pretty familiar to Frisk. She still didn't understand what Alphys was doing, but she had sat through it enough times that she could tell how much longer it'd take to finish. It wasn't until the scientist was nearing the end of, whatever it was she was doing, when something unusual happened.

"Wait, that can't be right," Alphys muttered loudly as she pulled out the piece of paper she had been working on and tossed it to the ground in a crumpled ball. Alphys shook her head in annoyance and seemed to start over again. This time she seemed to be going through the process more slowly, carefully writing everything down without so much as muttering a word.

"Um, okay you're not going to believe this," Alphys said in a tone that somehow seesawed back and forth between nervous and incredulous. She looked back and forth between Frisk and Flowey with huge round eyes, and took a breath to steady herself. "Somehow it looks like Asr- Flowey's soul has re-fused to ten percent, maybe a little more!"

"That, that can't," Flowey stuttered, visibly swallowing as he struggled with the words. "You're lying, aren't you!"

"Alphys wouldn't do that to you Flowey," Frisk said sternly as she stood from her seat, "You know that!"

"She's done worse!" Flowey nearly spat the words. From the corner of her eye Frisk could practically see Alphys jerking back as the words registered.

"Flowey!-"

"No, I- it's okay," Alphys stuttered clumsily as she cut Frisk off and looked down at Flowey. "I understand how you feel, but I'm really not lying! Honestly I'm as shocked as you are, this is more than twice my most optimistic estimate! It could be some sort of interaction with the traces of the old medicine in your system, or some wierd environmental factor-"

"It's okay, you've done great," Frisk said with a grin as she took her own turn cutting someone off. "I'm just happy to hear that Flowey is recovering."

Frisk turned to look at Flowey, but he quickly turned away as her eyes fell on him. Frisk shook her head, confused by his reaction. She figured while Flowey might not exactly be happy with the news, he'd at least be somewhat positive about it. This was just another reminder that she didn't completely understand him yet.

"Oh I'm plenty relieved by that," Alphys said as she let out a long breath, "but don't get too excited just yet. I think we all have a long way to go.

* * *

I looked around as the world around me shifted and became unfamiliar. Changing my attachment from one person to another was always disorienting. It was even more confusing when I wound up somewhere I wasn't familiar with. I had expected to end up in Alphys waiting room with Sans, but, I definitely wound up somewhere else.

"Alright Chara," I muttered as I let out a long breath and took a long look around. "What the heck is going on here?"

I brushed away a semi-translucent lock of red hair from my face and took in my surroundings. The dark tile floor and blue walls made me think of one of the halls in Alphys's old lab underground. Despite the similarities it didn't feel right, it was too clean, too well lit, and too well maintained. When Frisk and I had explored the True-Lab, it had been run down, and covered in an ages worth of dust and debri. Whatever this place was, it felt like it could've been brand new!

"We need to turn it off," came a familiar deep voice from behind me, "it's not safe!" I turned to find the voice and saw two skeletal figures in white lab-coats facing each other some distance down the hall.

The first guy was Sans. I could tell that even from a distance, even if it was odd to see him in a lab coat and tie-dye shirt. The deep voice and his short stubby appearance made it difficult to mistake him for anyone else.

The other guy was tall and very professionally dressed. He wore a black turtle-neck worn under his lab coat that made him look very sophisticated. However the effect was diminished somewhat by his odd proportions. His eyes were too big, his skull too bulbous, his limbs too long. I couldn't look at him without feeling like I was staring at a funhouse mirror.

"We are not stopping now, assistant," said the tall figure in a scratchy warbling voice that I only barely understood, despite the pauses he made between each word. "I am sorry, but it is only now becoming interesting." At that point I couldn't help but notice that he made intricate gestures with his hands as he talked. I was pretty certain it was sign language.

"Okay, fine," Sans said with a long sigh as he rubbed at his temples, "but maybe we can take some time, put in some additional safety measures."

"You worry too much, my boy," said the figure with a chuckle as he turned to walk down away down the hall. "You designed the safety measures Sans, have more confidence in yourself."

"Easy for you to say Doctor Gaster," Sans groaned as he began walking alongside the tall figure, "you're the only one that doesn't seem to be freaked out by that thing!"

"I told you before, Gaster is fine," the tall skeleton said warmly, "you don't need to be so formal, my boy. Now, tell me how progress on The Eye is coming along."

The rest of the conversation faded as the two moved further down the hall. Without really thinking, I began to slowly follow from a distance. I knew I didn't need to be that cautious, after all it wasn't as if they could actually see me. Still, for some reason it felt appropriate.

After a few moments of this Sans and his tall friend stepped in front of a door that automatically opened with a mechanical whirr-clank. As they stepped through the door I hurried to catch up, my footfalls echoing as each shoe hit the floor. I swung my fist in frustration as the two halves of the door came together while I was still several paces away.

You'd think that being incorporeal would mean that I could go anywhere, that doors would mean nothing, but you'd be wrong! First, I seemed to be physically tethered to whomever I was attached to at a given moment. If they moved far enough away I'd be pulled along like I was wearing some sort of invisible leash. Second, while I could pass through solid matter, I couldn't actually do it on command. It was more like solid matter would move through me. The rest of the time I could touch stuff normally, I just couldn't affect it in any way. I couldn't lift a pen to save my non-existent life.

And yes, all of this is just as infuriating as it sounds!

I let out a frustrated breath and considered my options as I walked towards the door. I quickly concluded that my best option would be to attach myself to Gaster. Ideally I'd pop up on the other side of the door once I did. Just as I was about to do that, I stepped in front of the door and the metal halves swung open for me with the same mechanical whirr as before.

Without thinking, I pivoted and leapt through the door, the soles of my shoes squeaking loudly as I landed. My hands shot out for balance as momentum carried me forward a few steps. As I slowed to a stop I looked back at the door to see it closing behind me. Whatever glitch must've caused the door to open had certainly been well timed.

I turned back towards the room and looked around. It was a long narrow room filled with several rows of computers and workstations. None of that really registered as my gaze was drawn to the far wall.

I saw an utterly immense, intricate, ringlike structure that hung suspended in the air. Metal beams supported its weight, power cables slithered out from the ring, and a steel ramp sloped up towards it invitingly. Within that structure there was, well I didn't know what to call it. It was like staring into a desolate pit that laid suspended in space. The pit kept pulling my gaze deeper and deeper into a dark sterile infinity. Looking into it I couldn't help but feel like I was slowly falling. Whatever the pit was it had no definite shape. It changed constantly but didn't seem to flow or twist, instead it seemed to crack, to shatter like glass, and fold in and reform upon itself. It was like watching some mad kaleidoscope, or the erratic gyrations of a lunatic snowflake.

The impossibility of it literally hurt to look at, but the presence of that thing was somehow worse. It was like the pit had a palpable weight that you could feel throughout the room. It made some strange noise that seemed like the distant growl of a million alien locusts. Then there was that sensation, that feeling of some creeping oily shadow pressing feebly against my mind whenever I looked into that abyss.

"This is going to sound very unscientific" said Sans tensely as he let out a long breath, "but I swear, it feels like something is looking out at us from that thing!" I turned to see Sans and that other skeleton Gaster, standing in front of a nearby computer terminal looking up at, whatever that thing was. It seemed as if the two were still in the middle of a conversation.

"Yeah, no kidding," I said loudly, knowing they couldn't hear me, "that things gives me the creeps!" A surprised look fell upon both monsters faces as they turned towards me, their eyes carefully studying me up and down.

"Who the heck are you?" Sans asked sternly as he began walking towards me, "how'd you even get down here!?"

"Wait, hold on a sec" I said with a quaver as I found myself backing away from the approaching skeleton, "you can actually see me!?" Before he could answer I felt large hands come down on my shoulders and I looked up to see a large canine figure in armor looking down at me.

"Okay kid," said Sans with a sigh as he stepped up and faced me, "I think it's time you told us what you're doing down here."

Just as he asked, a loud, strange noise echoed throughout the room. It sounded like a girl's voice heard from underwater, except that it somehow seemed to be coming from all around. Startled, I looked around for the source of the noise, only to notice that the only other person to react to it had been Sans. Like myself he craned his neck looking from one direction to another with a perplexed look on his face. Everyone else, the guard, Gaster, the few people I could see sitting in their work stations, all sat as still as mannequins and stared directly as me.

I opened my mouth to speak when suddenly the whole room shifted beneath my feet. Losing my balance I opened my mouth and inhaled deeply, tensing as the floor rushed up to meet me.

I hit the ground hard, and I abruptly found myself looking up at the grey speckled ceiling tiles of the waiting-room in Alphys lab on the surface. Disoriented I looked around at the brightly lit undecorated room. I immediately saw the figure of Frisk, holding Flowey in her arms. She stood in front of the chairs set along the window where Sans had parked himself, and was looking down at the skeleton in concern.

"Gooood morning sunshine!" said Flowey rudely as he grinned at Sans from his pot, "bright eyed and bushy tailed as always I see."

Sitting up, I could see the skeleton looking around confused, the lights of his eyes tracking around from left to right in a slow unfocused manner.

"Uncle Sans, are you alright?" asked Frisk gently as she stared down at her friend, "you seem kinda, out of it."

"Oh, it's nothing," Sans replied slowly as he looked up and focused on Frisks face, "I, uh, I think I just had a really intense dream is all."

"Really?" Frisk asked brightly as she leaned forward, clearly interested, "what happened? Was it scary?"

"Well aren't you just a nosy little thing!" Sans answered with a chuckle as he reached up and mussed Frisks hair playfully. "Honestly kiddo it's all a jumble. I don't think monsters are all that much better at remembering their dreams than humans are."

I groaned slightly as I picked myself up off the floor, more out of habit than any pain or strain. I hadn't really felt either sensation since I died.

Shaking my head I steadied myself and poured over what had just happened. When I had found myself in Alphys old lab, I assumed Sans must've teleported during the check-up. As far as I could tell however, Sans hadn't gone anywhere. The monster had merely fallen asleep and started dreaming. My eyebrows went up when I realized what had happened. Somehow I had ended up in Sans dream, and apparently I had been somewhat more substantial while I was there.

"Huh, well," I said as I tried to keep a grin from forming on my face, "I guess that's a thing then."

* * *

Helis let out a long miserable sigh as she looked over the lush green bushes she was hiding behind, at that lizard looking scientists building. The heat outside was an oppressive sweltering furnace, but she was trapped. It didn't matter that it was the hottest day of summer, or that she was only a kid. Artur would be furious if she returned without his pictures.

Desperate for relief, Helis placed the expensive black camera she had been carrying on the grass and unzipped her black and green-striped hoodie. She sighed as heat fled from the confines of the thick clothing, but she wished she could remove the hood as well. She knew she couldn't, she had to keep her face hidden at the very least. Still, the thought caused her to idly brush long red hairs away from her face, and tug at the lip of the oppressive flap of cloth. Once again she wished she could drop this chore and return to their nice air-conditioned hideout.

She caught motion out of the corner of her eye and Helis turned to see Frisk and her companions walking out the front door of the building. Quickly she reached down and grabbed the camera off the ground, powering it on as she moved it into place to take images of her target. With a press of a button the camera produced a clicking noise and captured the image of Frisk as she smiled up at the skeleton, Sans. The other two weren't as important, but the camera clicked twice more as she snapped pictures of them as well. A sense of relief washed over Helis as she snapped the last picture. It didn't seem to matter how many of these spy jobs she did, they always made her nervous.

Just then a peculiar glowing cylinder fell from Frisks pocket as she climbed into the sidecar of the skeletons motorcycle. Helis blinked in surprise as the strange looking object rolled along the ground, rattling loudly. On impulse she zoomed in on it and quickly snapped one last picture with a click; even as Frisk began chasing the object down. Dropping back behind the bush Helis took a breath and brought up the most recent image on the camera's display.

She felt her heart skip a beat as the image loaded up on the bright LCD screen. At a glance it looked like a clear plastic bottle full of pills, but the way the pills glowed looked almost exactly like how the old books had described Core Magic. Did that girl have her own ready supply? If that was true then they didn't even need to harvest. She could just take that bottle right here and-

Helis closed her eyes tight and took a deep breath, forcing herself not to get excited. What were the chances that somebody just happened to be carrying exactly what she needed? She was probably just jumping to conclusions. Besides, even if they did have it, starting a fight right now would be really bad. Helis was confident she could take these three, but not without hurting them, badly. No, for now it'd be best to stick to the plan. Harvesting would begin soon, her life would be saved, and nobody would need to die.

The engine of the skeletons motorcycle roared to life, and Helis shifted to look back over the shrub. She poked her head up just in time to see the monster, Sans, and his passengers rolling forward, driving out of the parking lot on that ugly old motorcycle. Helis ducked back behind the bushes and waited as the machine passed by and pulled into traffic. Helis stood and brushed herself off as the rumbling cough of the bike's engine faded into the distance. Now that she was in the clear, it was time to go home.

Helis closed her eyes and cleared her head, imagining a familiar set of geometries in her mind. Quickly she etched each line in the same green glow as her magic, putting together the spell with an ease that only painstaking practice afforded. Within a second the spell was complete and she opened her eyes. She took took a quick breath and imagined the hideout as she surged her magic.

The world blinked away in a flash of green as Helis teleported away.


	6. Chapter 6

Undertale: Long Road

By: Nathan Weaver

Chapter 6

* * *

Sans didn't think he'd ever get used to just how much STUFF people on the surface had. Even after living up here for a year, a part of him couldn't help but boggle at endless store shelves full of attractively packaged knick-knacks. It was actually pretty convenient, and way more pleasant than salvaging stuff from the dump. That said, he wasn't sure everything here was actually useful. Did anyone actually need a selfie stick? Whatever the heck that was.

The skeleton shook his head and continued pushing the cart down the aisle of the hardware store. Methodically he scanned the shelves for the items he'd need to make his new and improved magic scanner. The old one he'd disassembled, may it's infernal spirit find rest, just wasn't sensitive enough to pinpoint where magic was being used.

Stretching, Sans reached for a box of lightbulbs placed high on a shelf. The filaments would be perfect, but again he was reminded that he lived in a world of really tall giants. From of the corner of his eye, Sans saw a teenage boy with bad acne, thin facial hair, and a colorful employee's apron walk up beside him.

"Here, let me help you with that," said the employee cheerfully as he reached up and fetched the bulbs, handing them down to Sans with a wide, forced smile. "Is there anything else I can help you find, sir?" the boy asked with a little uncertainty as he handed Sans the package.

"Uh, yeah sure," Sans replied as he put the lightbulbs in his cart and grabbed a notebook. "I made a list actually, for a project. If you could help me find anything here I'd appreciate it."

"Okay then," said the polite teen with that same smile as he straightened up, "go ahead."

"Alright," said Sans as he held up a finger and began listing off items rhythmically. "I need a soldering gun, some copper wire, thumb tacks, a pair of plyers, a ball peen hammer, paper clips, a plush rabbit, twenty rolls of duct tape, green kitchen tiles, a lava lamp, a small television antenna, one of those lightning globe things, some machine screws, a large package of gummi bears, and an HD-DVD player, for starters."

"Uh, you're pulling my leg right?" asked the teenaged employee as he looked down at Sans and blinked in confusion.

"Nope!"

"So, what sort of project is this then?" he asked with a more genuine grin as he ran a hand through his hair, "are you some sort of mad-scientist or something?"

"Well, maybe just a smidge," Sans replied as he held a hand and pinched two fingers together to demonstrate.

"Alright I get you," said the kid with a chuckle as he turned to walk off "I'll go see if I can find any of those more obscure items for you, hold on." Good kid, thought Sans as he waved a hand in acknowledgement of the departing employee, real helpful too'

Sans' phone suddenly vibrated inside his coat pocket as the employee rounded the corner. Without thinking the skeleton fished the device from his pocket and answered, confident that it was Tori checking up on him.

"Hey Tori, what's up?" Sans asked quickly as he placed the phone to the side of his head.

"SAAAAAAAAAAANS!"

Sans quickly yanked the phone away as a voice that was most definitely not Toriel's blasted out from the from the tiny speaker. Quickly he shook the ringing from his head, he was pretty sure his phone could have been heard from the next aisle over.

"Papyrus," Sans said as he put the phone back to his head, "been awhile bro, what's up?"

"Don't you, 'what's up,' me you lazy-bones!" Papyrus started in, in his usual animated fashion. "What's this I hear about you not making it to my number one fans birthday hullabaloo!?"

"What, you mean Frisk's friends thing?" Sans asked with a cock of his head. "Yeah I was feeling a bit under the weather, so I-"

"Under the weather!" Papyrus repeated incredulously, "brother, you may be lazy, but you almost never get sick! You always say it's too much work, remember!" Sans groaned silently and took a deep breath to steady himself. He hated lying to his brother, especially since he always seemed to see right through him, but he needed some private time to finish the new detector. It'd been nearly a month since he moved in with Tori, and he'd barely even touched the thing in that time.

"Nah, seriously bro,"said Sans, trying to make himself sound weary, "just woke up feeling bone tired is all."

"Sans!" Papyrus groaned through the phone, "you've used that pun way too much!"

"C'mon," Sans said jovially, drawing out the word, "we both know you're smiling."

"You can't prove that!"

"Anyhow, what's the big deal," Sans asked a bit more seriously, "Frisks friend, Monster Kid isn't it? I hardly know the little guy. I don't think he'll mind if I'm not there."

"Yes, well I was hoping to see you there," Papyrus said with a sigh.

"Wait, you're back in town?"

"On my way to the party as we speak brother!" Papyrus replied, sounding distracted, Sans could swear that he heard the squealing of rubber on the other end, "Just a moment, I need to dodge one of those accursed semi-trucks!"

"Wait, Pap!" Sans said as a cold chill passed right through him, "maybe you should end the call and concentrate on driving."

"Utter nonsense!" Papyrus declared confidently as horns blared across the phone, "I am a perfectly capable driver as I'll have you know!"

"No no, I'm hanging up now," Sans said frantically, "pay attention to the road Paps!"

"Okay, but call me," Papyrus replied quickly," we'll do lunch!" With unsteady hands Sans quickly ended before he was robbed of any more years of his life.

Sans let out a long breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He shook his head to calm himself down. He knew full well that his brother actually was an amazing driver. The problem wasn't that he wasn't cautious. Papyrus didn't seek out dangerous situations behind the wheel, but he didn't avoid them either. Papyrus was simply too confident to believe that there was anything he couldn't handle.

Sans shook his head and chuckled quietly at that thought. Despite the downsides, Papyrus' confidence was one of the reasons Sans adored his younger brother. He hated the idea that he was going to miss spending a day with him, but what was done was done he supposed.

"Hey, uh, Mister Skeleton person?" asked the teenaged employee from earlier as Sans turned to see him holding up a large colorful box triumphantly. "I found you your HD-DVD player!"

"Wow," he said with a chuckle as he gave the kid an enthusiastic thumbs up, "kid, you deserve a raise!"

* * *

Helis woke and slowly sat up, the world slowly coming into focus as she groaned and looked around. Half asleep as she was, she was briefly surprised by her surroundings, and stiffened slightly in surprise as her mind came fully awake. Despite all this time, she still expected to wake up in the bunker style rooms of the facility, not on a pile of grimy old clothes in a ran down old room. As she sat collecting her thoughts, beams of sunlight peeked through the boarded up windows, lighting up the dust floating through the stale air.

"Helis," yelled a distant voice from outside as an electric thrum echoed from the window, "c'mon Helis, let me in already. Helis groaned as she pushed herself up from the ground and stood.

With an electric hiss the world flashed green and Helis found her lungs filling with fresh outside air as she stared at Nigel's back. Clear air rippled blue as another rock collided with the magical shield around the house. The impact causing another low resonate thrum to ring out throughout the neighborhood. Helis winced slightly and glared up at the older boy.

"Nigel, you idiot we are supposed to be hiding!" Helis said tiredly as she raised both of her outstretched hands, "what if the locals saw that!?"

"It's Sting remember, Sssting," Nigel said, emphasizing the S's with dramatic flourishes of his hands as he turned, facing Helis with a grin. "Doesn't that just sound so much cooler than, Nigel?"

Nigel, or Sting as he'd recently decided he wanted to be called, was quite a few years older than Helis, but she honestly had a hard time believing it. He had blond nearly bleached hair, wore a black and yellow striped t-shirt, and was probably one of the most obnoxious show-offs Helis had ever met.

"Okay fine, here," groaned Helis as she reached out and grabbed the older boy's wrist. With the same hiss as before the world flashed green. Helis found herself in the dimly lit kitchen of the abandoned house. Save for the large foldout table, some chairs and a fridge, both the kitchen and the adjoining rooms were empty of all furniture. Despite this, between the clutter and the old moving boxes everywhere, nowhere in the house really felt tidy. In fact just being here made Helis feel rather, dirty.

"There you're in," Helis said in annoyance as she dropped Nigel's wrist, "and what is wrong with Nigel anyway? It was fine two weeks ago!"

"No it wasn't," Sting answered in a sarcastic sneer as he turned and rolled his eyes, "two weeks ago it was still Nigel." He uttered that last bit, his birth name, as if it was food that had gone rancid. "Seriously, how can somebody as amazing as me possibly accept such a boring name?"

"Nigel," Helis said as she took a deep breath trying to calm herself down, "that doesn't even make any s-"

"You two could wake the dead," came an irritated voice from behind Helis. She turned to see Artur, the oldest of the group, looking over at the both of them from the entry into the kitchen with a faint frown chiseled on his face. Artur was rather tall and thin, had fine features and neatly combed black hair that fell halfway to his shoulders. He wore a black button-down shirt with two red stripes on each of of his short sleeves.

"Excuse me for being bored!" Nigel groaned as he took a deep frustrated breath, "we've been holding up for weeks now! The washout here gets to leave more than I do!" Helis cheeks burned angrily at that comment, but she forced her mouth shut. She'd studied hard, it wasn't her fault that the magic was disappearing from her bloodline.

"Yes yes I am very much aware," Artur said, clearly feigning sympathy as he walked across the room and opened the fridge. "We are are all very impressed with your patience, oh mighty Sting!" With one smooth motion Artur pulled out one of the boxes of leftover pizza and pointed at the table. After living together for over a month, both Helis and Nigel knew that this was their queue to sit down. Lunch was pretty much whenever Artur decided it was.

"Mighty Sting," Nigel repeated excitedly, as his eye going wide as he walked towards the table, "I like that! Do you think all those Unblooded sheep will call me that once we make our kind known?"

"Don't use words like that okay!" Helis said tiredly as pulled out a chair and slumped into it tiredly, "it's, I dunno, racist or something."

"Of course you'd say that," sneered Nigel with a roll of his eyes as he pulled out his own chair across the table and sat, "what, with you being a washout and all!"

"Sting, what did I say about harassing the getaway guy?" Artur said as he placed the open pizza box in the middle of the table and sat, "she'll be the one to get our butts out of the fire if the enforcers find us!" Helis couldn't help but smile a bit at that. Artur wasn't a saint or anything, but she wouldn't have gone along with this plan of his if she thought he didn't care about marginal mages like herself.

"Yeah Sting," Helis fired back hotly with a grin, "buzz off!"

"Sorry boss," Nigel said apologetically as he reached for a slice of cold pizza. "I'm just teasing her though. You know that I don't really mean it."

"Yes well," Artur muttered with a weary sigh as he reached for his own slice of pizza, "hopefully Helis won't be a washout anymore after tonight."

"Wait," Helis asked as she took a moment to swallow a bite of cold pizza "you mean we're finally going to start harvesting Core Magic?" Helis stood a little straighter at that news. It'd been over a month since they arrived in this city, and they'd been hanging low ever since. To be fair, they had defected, and stolen valuable artifacts on their way out the door. Laying low for awhile had probably been a good idea.

"If the Archmages enforcers haven't found us by now, we're probably safe," "Artur answered with a shrug as smiled at Helis. "We might as well do what we came here to do.

"Sweet" said Nigel with a pump of his fist, "finally we can get out of this hole and start recruiting!"

"Maybe," Artur said with a grin as he looked down at the cold slice of pizza he held in his hand with a grimace, "we'll see how harvesting goes tonight. Uh, Sting would you mind uh-" Artur tossed his slice back into the open box and motioned towards pizza.

"Oh, sure boss," Nigel answered as he leaned forward and and pointed at the pizza. Visibly nothing really happened, but this close Helis could easily feel Nigel's magic humming deeply in the back of her mind. It was no wonder that experienced mages could identify each other through their magic. Nigel's magic felt like, sitting too close to a furnace, or wrapping up in an itchy wool blanket. It was hot and irritating, just like him.

Within moments cheese began to bubble and Nigel dropped his hand, ending the spell.

"Thank you Sting," said Artur as he reached forward and picked up a hot new slice, "I appreciate that."


	7. Chapter 7

Undertale: Long Road  
By: Nathan Weaver  
Chapter 7

* * *

Rows of red tables filled the cool shady area beneath the outdoor roof of the picnic shelter. A birthday party was well underway at a green grassy park near the Monster Mountain theme-park. After lunch most people here would be leaving for Monster Mountain.

Lots of people stood around, talking and sipping cool drinks. Children, mostly monsters, could be seen running down the cement aisles between the tables having fun. On the lawn outside the shelter, a few kids were giggling as they took turns bouncing a green balloon back and forth. At one table Frisk could see Undyne talking with a small cat monster, and Toriel was at another table talking to other kids parents.

At the end of one row of tables in particular, Frisk, Flowey, and a child named Monster Kid, sat looking up at an immense, dark brown chocolate cake dotted with candles. Frisk shook her head a little and tried to tear her gaze away from the moist dessert that was easily more than twice her height. It didn't help that it was so close that Frisk could have easily reached out and sunk a finger into the cake's sweet soft chocolatey frosting.

*Do it Frisk, do it for me!

"I think your parents might actually be going a bit crazy this time," said Frisk with a grin as she turned to her left and smiled at MK.

"Yo, don't I know it," MK replied as he gave a big sharp-toothed grin back, "awesome isn't it!" Frisk let out a quick snort of laughter as she looked at MK's goofy exaggerated smile. Frisk had met MK while she was traveling through the underground. Thankfully they had managed to stay friends even after coming to the surface.

He was roughly Frisks size, yellow, looked a bit like a dinosaur, and had triangular fins that started at his head and ran down to the tip of his thick tail. Today he wore a yellow and brown t-shirt that had had its sleeves sewn shut to accommodate MK's lack of arms. Frisk always felt a bit bad about that, but it was a trait that everyone in his family seemed to suffer from.

"Frisk," asked Flowey quietly from his vantage point atop the table to Frisk's right. "I'm thirsty, could you-" Flowey trailed off as he motioned his head towards Frisks red plastic cup of soda.

"Oh sure," Frisk answered as she passed the cold drink towards Flowey and angled the straw within easy reach. The flower nodded it's head in silent thanks and wordlessly began sipping soda through the straw. Frisk couldn't help but smile at how polite that was, at least by Flowey's standards.

"Oh, how was soccer camp anyway?" Frisk asked curiously as she turned back to MK, "did you have fun?"

"Frisk, it was amazing!" MK beamed, holding his chin up high as he slowly wiggled from side to side with excited energy. "Everyone kept asking me what it was like to be a monster, we did drills every day, and all the counselors thought I had real talent!"

"Did you score a lot of goals?"

"Well, not really no," MK said reluctantly, his body deflating slightly as that earlier energy vanished. "I did okay though, I did well in other ways!" Frisk tried not to frown at that. Monster Kid really wanted to be a good player, he even bragged about growing up and going pro. Frisk wouldn't dare tell him to give up on that, but secretly she hoped he'd find another passion. She worried that sooner or later, this would end up getting him hurt.

"Lady Toriel," came a timid voice from the next row of tables. Frisk looked over to see MK's mom speaking to Toriel. Frisk always found it interesting just how much she looked like her son. She was taller of course, and wore a yellow and brown spotted shirt. "The children seem pretty rowdy. Could you maybe do something?" MK's mom motioned around the room with her head, indicating all the kids in the picnic area that had become all the louder in the past few minutes.

"I think perhaps I can," said Toriel with a growing smile as she slowly stood up from her seat and faced the center of the crowd.

"May I have everyone's attention," Toriel addressed the gathering with a confident authority, as if she was making a royal decree. Within a few quick moments everyone in the area quieted to a hush and turned their gaze toward the former queen.

"I thank you all for coming here today," Toriel continued formally, saying each word clearly as she held herself tall. "If it is not too much trouble, I would ask you all to please gather round, so we may sing young Mr. Kid a heartfelt song of celebration." As Toriel said this the whole crowd remained quiet, uncomfortably so. The way mom had talked made everyone feel like everything had become more formal.

"In other words," Toriel said with a chuckle as she let her posture loosen up, "It's time to sing to the birthday boy!"

Frisk grinned widely as everyone visibly relaxed. Even Undyne loosened up as Toriel finished speaking. Before she had nearly stood at attention when mom started talking formally. In all, Frisk thought it was really cool to see Toriel working a crowd like that. It was probably something mom had picked up when she was queen of the underground. Shaking her head back to the present Frisk quickly scooted off to the side with Flowey in tow; leaving a beaming MK alone in the spotlight.

"Excuse me, Mai" Toriel asked MK's mom quietly as the crowd continued to gather in around the cake, "did you bring any matches?" The saurian woman stiffened and shook her head quickly, almost as if she was panicked by the question.

"Well, no matter," Toriel continued with a sigh, "I suppose I'll just have to-"

Mom suddenly went quiet and quickly turned to stare towards the cake. Following her gaze Frisk could see the candles lighting up on their own, one by one. Each wick smoldered for half a second before igniting with orange flame, only for the whole thing to happen again with the next candle. From the corner of her eye Frisk could see Flowey pointing at each candle with one of his leaves, his brow furrowing in concentration each time he cast a flame spell at each wick.

"Wow, I didn't know that you could do that," Frisk said quietly as the last candle lit up.

"Yes well, I couldn't until recently" Flowey whispered back as he made a show of wiping non-existent sweat from his forehead. "Not enough soul, I guess."

"Where did you learn to do that?" Frisk looked quietly back up at Toriel as she unsteadily muttered those words. Toriel looked unnerved. If it were possible, Frisk would've sworn that her face was somehow even paler than normal. It was almost like she'd seen a ghost.

"Are you okay mom?" Frisk asked in concern, feeling a bit unnerved herself. She couldn't remember seeing her mother acting like this before.

"I- It is nothing really, I just," Toriel paused for a moment and grabbed at the back of her neck tensely, clearly collecting her thoughts. "Flowey, were you taught magic by a member of the Royal Family? Perhaps some distant cousin?"

"Yea right," Flowey choked out nervously, sounding a bit manic, "like some royal bozo would bother!"

"Yes, but then, why did your magic feel like-" Toriel trailed off with a shake of her head, her eyes clearly dewy with moisture, "I, I'm sorry!"

Before Frisk could ask what was going on Toriel turned and wordlessly hurried down the aisle, legs quickly pumping back and forth as she stared down intently at the floor. As Frisk watched her mother leave, she could've sworn she saw her lift an arm to cover her face."

"Yo, Frisk, is your mom okay," MK asked in concern as he stared wide-eyed at Frisk, "I think she might've been crying!" Frisk looked back and forth with a growing sense of panic. The crowd that had gathered around was beginning to murmur louder and louder about what they had just seen. Toriel needed her, but MK was right here. Nobody had even shown up to his birthday last year, and now his big moment was going to be ruined!

"Crying!?" came a boisterous nasally voice that seemed muffled somehow, "the lady Toriel's cries of anguish must not go unanswered!"

Abruptly the face of Papyrus the skeleton burst out from inside the cake, followed immediately by the rest of his body and a chocolatey explosion of dark brown crumbs and frosting. Shielding her eyes from the delicious deluge of delectable dessert, Frisk looked up to see her other honorary uncle, Papyrus standing atop the picnic table. The skeleton struck a dramatic crumb-covered figure. Hands resting upon his hips, red scarf billowing in the wind, his white body-gear contrasting sharply with the red of his boots and gloves. Of course it was all rather ruined by the flickering birthday candle atop his head, not to mention the half hollowed-out cake behind him.

*You demon, how dare you waste good chocolate!

"Papyrus!" Undyne yelled out from the back of the crowd as she stared at the tall lanky skeleton wide-eyed, "how the heck did you get in there!?"

"I was summoned by distress!" Papyrus declared with a flourish of his hands as he stepped down from the table between Frisk and MK. "Fear not dear Frisk," the skeleton continued dramatically as he pointed a red-gloved hand towards the exit of the picnic shelter, "go and attend to the Lady Toriel! I, the great Papyrus, shall stay and attend to young Monster's needs!" With that Papyrus bent over and effortlessly scooped MK up into his arms, eliciting a loud squeal of delight from the reptilian boy as he was hoisted up to a shoulder.

"Are you going to be okay with me going?" Frisk asked nervously, biting her lower lip as she stood from her seat.

"Are you kidding?" MK replied with a huge toothy grin as he looked down at Frisk, "Your uncle is awesome! I'm good, go get your mom!"

"Okay," Frisk said hesitantly as she began hurrying towards the stairway, "I'll be right back!"

* * *

Huh, I can't believe she actually just left me behind for once, Flowey thought with a sigh as he sat atop the picnic table and stared longingly at his distant drink. Frisk had unfortunately forgotten to move it when she scooted him from his previous spot, now he was high and dry. Flowey let out a frustrated groan as he tried to forget about his drink. He knew he could always grow a new vine and grab the cup if he really needed it. He really didn't like making temporary limbs like that though, it could get tiring.

"Wowie, is that Flowey?" came the painfully cheerful voice of Papyrus. Flowey could see the skeleton, as he confidently strode up towards the him, with the reptile boy still riding his shoulder. "My colorful little friend!" Papyrus continued loudly as he smiled and sat next to the flower, "are you doing alright, you must be worried too after all that?"

"I'm, fiiiine?" Flowey answered in drawn-out uncertainty as he forced himself to smile uncomfortably back. Again Flowey asked himself why this numbskull still didn't realize that he couldn't really feel anything for other people! Sure it had felt weird seeing Toriel act like that, and that question of hers surprised him, but he still wasn't worried, much. "But you know," continued Flowey in mock cheerfulness after making a show of clearing his throat, "I'm awfully thirsty, and wouldn't you know it, my drink just happened to get away from me!"

"Say no more," Papyrus said as he reached for the glass. The skeleton frowned as he picked up the red cup, and made a show of examining it critically. "Why, this soda is mostly ice!" Papyrus declared as he jumped back to his feet, the red cup raised dramatically in the air. "This will simply not do! My friend, I will remedy this immediately, to the cooler young Monster!" With that the skeleton leapt into motion with a flurry of long ivory limbs, the kid on his shoulder squealing in delight as he quickly weaved around the people in the aisle.

"What, a, weirdo," Flowey said slowly as he slowly shook his head in incomprehension. Still, Flowey could tolerate the guy at least, that was more than he could say for most people.

"Ow, sonava!" Flowey winced as a sharp bolt of pain shot up one of his leaves. Flowey winced, grinding his teeth together as he looked down at the offending limb. The leaf just looked, wrong. The tip of it had become a writhing mass of tiny flat green and yellow squares that blinked and flickered around erratically. There were moments where he could actually see gaps opening up within his leaf, only for them to disappear a split second later. It somehow reminded him of the time his gameboy had glitched, and all the sprites on the screen had become a mass of chaotic pixels.

Panicked, Flowey panted heavily as he shook the limb about, hoping somehow to fling whatever it was off. After several moments of this, Flowey closed his eyes and took a deep calming breath. Opening his eyes once more he looked back at the leaf, and saw that was perfectly normal again. Save for an fading icy sensation at the tip, there wasn't any sign there had been anything wrong at all.

He stared at the limb, blinking slowly. Flowey didn't think he'd imagined it but, he didn't know what else it could've been. He certainly hadn't done anything unusual today, well, except cast some magic beyond a simple bullet, but he doubted that was the cause. Perhaps he had had some bad soda?

Flowey shook his head and pushed those ideas out of his mind. He'd have to remember to ask Frisk about it, but it was probably nothing.

* * *

Thankfully, Mom hadn't gone far. Few people came to the park this early in the day, and with no foot traffic or distractions to compete with, Frisk found Toriel after just a few minutes. Mom was sitting on one of the park's many benches, overlooking a picturesque little pond dotted with reed-like greenery. Walking up beside her, Frisk paused, her chest became tight as she saw her mother's shoulders gently heaving. Even from where she stood, Frisk could clearly see large wet tears falling into her mother's lap.

"Momma?" Frisk asked quietly, suddenly feeling uncertain after seeing Toriel this upset, "are, you okay?"

"Oh, Frisk," Toriel said with a quaver as she turned towards Frisk and futilely wiped at her eyes. "I am sorry, I didn't frighten you I hope." After a brief pause Frisk slowly walked up to the bench and sat down next to Toriel.

"I'm okay momma," Frisk said softly as she leaned into Toriel's side. A gentle white-furred hand came down on Frisks shoulder. Toriels hand trembled uncertainly for just a moment, before firmly hugging her child to her side.

"My goodness child," Toriel chuckled, her voice shaking slightly as Frisk wrapped her arms around her, "I cannot get over just how sweet you are."

"Thanks momma," Frisk murmured quietly as she nuzzled against her mother's side. Adopted or not, Frisk loved being near her, it made her feel safe and wanted.

"You, must be wondering about all this," Toriel asked, motioning towards her face with her free hand. The tears had begun to dry up, but it'd be clear to anyone that Toriel had recently been weeping.

"You don't have to," Frisk said with a shrug. If talking about whatever this was was going to hurt mom, maybe it'd be better to let it go.

"That is so thoughtful of you, my child," Toriel said as she smiled down warmly at Frisk, "but would it not be unfair to make you worry like this, without knowing why?" Neither said a word for a long silent moment. A gentle breeze blew across the park. Toriel looked down at the pond, her eyes following the path of a mother duck, it's ducklings following along behind it as it swam atop the water. Mom opened her mouth as if to talk, then paused, as if uncertain just how to proceed. "Have, I ever told you about my first child, Asriel?"

"You haven't," Frisk replied, suddenly feeling a little uneasy, "but I heard. The people at New Home told me."

"Ah, I should have expected that," Toriel said with a sad smile as she stared down at her lap, "I guess he does somewhat belong to history now." Frisk swallowed and pressed her lips together tight. Not telling mom the whole story, that Asriel was alive, it felt so very much like lying to her. Frisk almost opened her mouth to tell her, but her mouth suddenly felt like it was glued shut. As much as it hurt to lie, telling mom right now would just torment her. Maybe she could confess when Asriel was closer to being better, and seemed more like his old self.

"He would have loved you, I think," Toriel went on, looking back up at the pond with the first genuine smile Frisk had seen in awhile. "Asriel didn't have many friends, but once he opened to someone, well, he would do anything for them. I remember his sister, Chara, she once came down with what you would call a flu. He didn't really know what to think of it, it terrified him I think. He hardly left her side the entire time!" Mom paused after saying this, the smile fading from her face as she stared off into the distance. "All of my little ones were such good and kind children," Toriel said weakly, her eyes staring off somewhere distant. "Each and every child was so different, but they all had that in common."

"I'm, sorry," Frisk said uneasily as she placed her hand on her mother's hand. Without pause Toriel took Frisks hand in her own, squeezing it gently as she gazed down at her daughter with a soft smile.

"No, do not be sorry child," Toriel said with a slight shake of her head, "truth be told, I should not have burdened you like that."

"It's okay momma, really" said Frisk softly as she pressed a cheek into her mother's side, "I'd love to hear about, you know, everything that came before." This wasn't a lie. As uncomfortable as Mom became when the subject came up, Frisk couldn't help wanting to hear more about Asriel and the previous children that fell underground. They were her family too after all, at least that's how she saw it.

"Perhaps one day," Toriel said uncertainly as she quickly glanced back down at Frisk, "but now is not that time, I think." Toriel paused, closing her eyes and visibly trying to bring herself back under control. "Let us just say that your friend, Flowey, the way his magic felt, well it surprised me."

"I, I don't get it," Frisk asked uncomfortably as she looked up at Toriel's face.

"Ah, I suppose that would seem a bit unclear," Toriel answered uncomfortably, her breathing becoming deeper with each word. "You see, magic users like myself, we can feel one another when we cast spells. Flowey, well his magic felt just like Asriel's," she paused once more, holding her breath for a long moment before continuing. "For a moment, before I turned around and saw that horrid little creature lighting those candles. A part of me thought that, just maybe my boy had come back to me somehow."

"I'm sorry mom," Frisk muttered, swallowing hard as she shifted and stared intently at her lap. She felt so horrible about lying to Toriel. The thought that she'd kept this from her made the corners of her eyes sting with moisture as she squeezed Toriel tighter. At the same time another small part of her felt, excited. This meant that Asriel was getting better, didn't it? That maybe someday soon she'd be able to return him to her, and have a real brother herself? Frisk again wanted to open her mouth and tell mom all of this, to tell her just who Flowey was, but she somehow managed to keep her mouth shut.

"My goodness Frisk, you have nothing to apologize for," Toriel said softly as she leaned over and wrapped both arms around Frisk firmly. "Some mother I am, acting silly, and making my little girl worry!" Toriel shook her head slightly, clearly regretting her outburst.

"It's okay mom, really," Frisk said with a smile as she squeezed her mother back tightly."You're not silly, you just, I dunno, you've been through a lot."

"You are very kind to say that," said Toriel as she disengaged the hug and took a deep breath, "still, I think I've put you through enough for one day. Your friends must be missing you."

"But-"

"But nothing child!" Toriel stated with finality as she playfully nudged Frisk on the shoulder, "I'm feeling quite a bit better now, honest! Go be with friends, I shall follow soon."

"Fiiiine," Frisk whined in mock indignation as she scooted herself off the bench. Truth be told she was still a little reluctant to leave mom alone. She still looked like she'd been upset recently, particularly if looked at her slightly reddened eyes. Still, getting things off her chest had seemed to help calm her down, Frisk was happy about that. "I'll save you some cake!" Frisk called back clearly after taking a few steps.

"Thank you child!" Toriel said with a chuckle, "I would appreciate that." As Frisk walked away she paused, turning back as a question crossed her mind. It seemed like a funny thing to ask, but she did want to know, and she thought it might distract mom from Asriel himself.

"Uh, mom," Frisk asked a bit uncomfortably, her hands frozen mid-air like she was holding a basketball, "would you mind, if I asked you something?"

"Oh, feel free to my child," Toriel answered as she turned to look down at Frisk with a gentle smile.

"I'm, I can't help wondering now," Frisk continued uneasily, looking around one last time before she looked up into Toriel's face, "what did Asriel's magic feel like?"

"That is a very curious question child," Toriel said thoughtfully, her smile fading slightly before the corners of her mouth curved up again. "Well, it is rather hard to put these things into words, but if I had to describe it-" Toriel trailed off for a moment, her eyes going distant with thought. "If I had to describe it, I'd say it was like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day, or maybe starlight on a murky night." Toriel closed her eyes and slowly shook her head, "I'm sorry child, it really is quite difficult to describe how magic feels."

"It's okay mom," Frisk answered with a smile as she found herself staring at her shoes. She hadn't known Asriel when he'd really been himself very long, but all of that did somehow sound like him. "Really, I was just curious."


	8. Chapter 8

Undertale: Long Road  
By: Nathan Weaver

Chapter 8

* * *

Undyne narrowed her good eye as she stared down the barrel of the rifle towards the target. Controlling her breathing, she cleared her mind of all distractions as the world became void of all but herself and her target. She felt a slight breeze and adjusted the barrel a fraction of a centimeter to the right, then adjusted again for gravity. Steadying herself Undyne took one last deep breath, pulling the trigger as she exhaled.

the pellet collided with and shot out the load-bearing bottle with a sharp tinny 'ploink,' sending the entire stack of milk bottles clattering loudly to the ground! The sound was hardly noticed among the din of the milling crowds, and distant theme-park rides, but it made Undyne smile regardless.

"Aaaand you win, again!" came the tired resigned voice of the carny, as he grabbed yet another colorful oversized stuffed animal and handed it to the blue-skinned fish-woman. After finishing lunch and getting into Monster Mountain she and Tilin had bee-lined it to the theme parks marketplace. It was a busy street-sized foot-path dotted with gift shops, little food stands, and a bunch of colorful booths where you could play various games for prizes. Undyne had wanted to see if she could win one of those strange little orange fishes in a bag; but after hearing people grumbling loudly about this game being unfair, she couldn't resist stepping in."You do know that this game is supposed to be rigged," the carny asked with a tired sigh, "right?"

"Why do you think I'm still here?" Undyne said as she dropped the pink hippo into the pile of stuffed animals being carried by the cat monster Tilin. The pile had easily grown higher than Undyne's waist, and was nearly as wide. Had Undyne been paying less attention to her game, she would've been somewhat impressed and amused by the cat's ability to balance such a large load.

"How much longer are we going to keep doing this?" asked Tilin in an annoyed muffled voice from beneath all the toys. "I can't breath, and I'm having trouble feeling my everything!"

"Until this sleazeball kicks me out," Undyne said with a mocking grin as she held out another few bills. "or goes broke, I guess."

"Lady please," said the guy running the game as he reluctantly took Undyne's bills, "I'm losing money here!"

"Should've thought of that before you tried scamming people," Undyne proclaimed as she pumped her fist and hefted the air-rifle toward the sky. "Now, this is a matter of justice!"

"So, this is what you do with your time now?" asked Tilin grumpily from beneath the animals, "shake down small time con artists?"

"What, do you need a break or something?" Undyne asked skeptically as she knocked down another pile of milk bottles. "I thought you were supposed to be tough."

"The flesh is willing, but the spirit doesn't give a crap!" Tilin said in a flat deadpan voice as Undyne threw another stuffed animal onto the pile. "Seriously though, if you keep doing this there will be violence."

"Okay, fine!" groaned Undyne as she tossed the air-rifle back into the carney's eager hands, "just, let me get rid of these stuffed animals and we can go."

"Wait," Tilin asked warily, "how are we going to-"

"Yo, rugrats!" Undyne yelled out loudly enough for her voice to echo, "free crap for everyone, get it while it's hot!" One by one many faces, adult and children alike, turned to stare at the fish women. For a long moment, everyone was frozen by indecision. Then, a single child broke from the crowd rushing forward in delight. The dam burst in a sudden rush of excited squealing children and even some adults. Quickly all the bodies closed in tighter as numerous eager hands reached towards the pile toys, held precariously by a cat.

A minute later Undyne struggled not to laugh as Tilin sat sprawled on the ground, gasping for breath.

"You, you set that up!" Tilin accused with a huff, as she finally caught her breath. Tilin glared up at Undyne as she slowly got back to her feet, "one of those kids almost ran off with me!"

"Hehe, yeah sorry," Undyne answered stiffly as she tried and failed to keep a grin off her face. She really hadn't been trying to set Tilin up, but the sight of her yelling as a clumsy three year-old human boy tried hauling her away was just too funny. "But you know," Undyne added with a shrug of her shoulders, "it's not my fault that you look like a toy!"

"I am a regal, and majestic creature," Tilin replied through clenched teeth before sighing and deflating, "it's not my fault that I'm also tiny."

"Alright jeez, I'm sorry," Undyne said truthfully, raising her hands in surrender. She actually was starting to feel a bit bad about all this. "Look, you can choose what we do next," Undyne added, spreading her hands a bit further to emphasize the olive branch, "your choice!"

"Alright," Tilin said flatly as she pointed down the walkway, "we're going back to that booth I saw earlier and buying a funnel cake."

"Okay fine," Undyne said with a grin as she motioned her hands in the direction the cat had just pointed, "lead the way, oh bottomless pit!" With a frown Tilin shook her head and unceremoniously began walking, momentarily leaving Undyne behind before she hurried and caught up.

"So, fish face," Tilin asked casually without breaking her stride about a half minute later, "have you made up with that dorky little nerd of yours yet?"

"Alphys is not a dork," Undyne answered hotly, purely on reflex, "and no, I guess I haven't." Undyne sighed and tried to shake the sour emotions that had suddenly hit her. "I haven't really seen her since then either," she quickly added, knowing that the words were just a flimsy excuse.

"Uh huh," Tilin said skeptically as she stopped in her tracks and looked back to look at Undyne. "You just never ran into her, forgot to bring it up. It's not as if you have her phone number, or know where she lives or anything like that!"

"Well, what do you care?" Undyne asked hotly as she folded her arms and seethed, "I thought you didn't get the whole, relationship thing!"

"I don't," Tilin answered with a nonchalant shrug of her hands, "relationships seem pointless to me. Leaving things undone though, now that bothers me!"

"Just leave it alone okay," Undyne groaned tiredly as she shook her head, lips pursed tightly, "It's none of your darn business!"

"Fine fine, just answer this one question and I'll drop it," Tilin grinned mischievously as she said this and held out a single stubby finger. "Would you talk to her if you saw her today, and get this whole thing sorted out?"

"No fracking duh I would!" Undyne quickly answered as she waved the question away impatiently.

"Promise?"

"Ugh, okay fine, I promise!" she said with a huff as she threw out her hands in exasperation, "Geeze, why are you even so fixated on this all of a sudden anyway?!"

"Because she's right over there," Tilin said casually, quickly pointing to her left before turning to resume walking, "break a leg romeo!" Without thinking Undyne looked in the direction the cat had pointed and saw Alphys on the other side of the walkway. She was sitting on a bench next to a lonely looking coffee stand, sipping from a thick paper cup. Seeing Alphys sitting there in a pink t-shirt, staring down at her cup, somehow made Undyne's mouth go dry.

"You little-" Undyne began angrily, only to turn and find that the cat was nowhere to be seen. Undyne knew that in this crowd there was no way she'd find Tilin, but she still wanted to wring that cat's neck for setting her up like that.

With a sigh, Undyne looked back over at Alphys and rubbed at her shoulder and steeled herself as she turned to walk over to talk to her.

* * *

Alphys inhaled the steam coming off the coffee and took another sip. The taste was horribly bitter, and it felt as if it bleached her mouth on its way down. Regardless, she savored the sense of relief as she felt another layer of fog clearing from her mind. Even two weeks ago she wouldn't have needed this to get through the day; she wouldn't have even considered it. Now though, she'd been so tired that a day without copious caffeine was unthinkable.

Alphys stared down at the cup and let out a long helpless sigh. She knew something needed to change, soon. The longer she kept donating Core magic, the less energy she seemed to have. This morning she'd been so exhausted that she couldn't even force herself out of bed in time for the birthday party, and that was with nine hours of sleep. She'd been getting paler to boot, her yellow orange scales draining a little color after each donation. She couldn't continue much longer like this, but she couldn't stop either, she felt trapped.

"Hey, Alphys," came a familiar voice that startled Alphys from her thoughts. Jumping slightly, she looked up from her coffee to see the familiar blue scaled face of Undyne standing before her.

"Undyne!" Alphys stammered, nearly jumping to her feet, only to stop halfway as her remaining coffee spilled from her cup onto the ground between them. "Y, you're okay right," Alphys asked in a panic, "I'm sorry, I didn't spill on you-?"

"Whoa there, I'm fine!" Undyne answered, calmly cutting Alphys off as she raised her hands in surrender. "One thing at a time there Alphy, I'm sorry if I startled you."

"I, well, it's fine," Alphys muttered as she let out a long breath, her exhaustion quickly returning as the surprise wore off and her weight settled back into the bench. "I just, should've been paying more attention."

"Yeah, you seemed pretty distracted," said Undyne as she tilted her body to the side, eyeing the mostly empty cup with her good eye. "Triple caf huh, dang you must be exhausted if you're drinking that!" Undyne eyed Alphys up and down with growing concern as she said this," Alphy, I know I don't have any right but, are you alright?"

"I'm, well I'm okay, getting by," Alphys said uneasily as she stared at the ground. "How about you though?" Alphys asked timidly as she looked up at Undyne, "seen any good anime lately?"

"Nah," Undyne answered somberly, waving the question away with a motion of her hand. "It, well it just doesn't sound all that fun, watching it without you."

"Oh, I see," Alphys said with a sigh, as she felt more guilt settle onto her shoulders. She knew it shouldn't have been a surprise to her, of course all of this would be hard on Undyne too. "I'm, really very sorry," Alphys said softly as she slowly fidgeted with her cup, "I guess I haven't made things easy for you."

"Oh would you just stop apologizing, and tell me what's going on with you?" Undyne asked emphatically as she motioned towards Alphys with both hands. "You don't really drink coffee, Alphy. You don't miss birthdays, you don't walk around looking like you're half sick. Dangit, you just keep making me worry!"

"I know, and I'm sorry for that!" Alphys shot back hotly, her voice cracking as she felt heat well up in her chest. She took a deep breath and covered her face with one hand, desperate to hide her emotions. "I really am sorry, I really didn't want you to worry. It's just, I really have to do this.

"So, this," Undyne said as she motioned towards Alphys again, "this has something to do with that thing you won't tell me about?"

"Ye, yeah," Alphys answered hesitantly as she looked down at her coffee cup and nervously began rotating it between her finger-tips. "I mean, I'd like to tell you, but-

"You can't, is that what you were about to say?!" "Undyne asked hotly as she stomped her foot and let out a heavy frustrated breath. "Dangit Alphys, why is this so important?" she asked seriously as she slowly shook her head, "look at what it's doing to you!"

"Because it's my fault!" Alphys snapped back in protest, her breath coming out unevenly. "I messed up again Undyne. Somebody got hurt, bad, and I just have to fix it somehow!"

"Wait, is this about the Amalgamite's again?" Undyne asked with a cock of her head, clearly concerned and confused. "Alphy bear, everyone's already forgiven you for that!"

"No, no it's-" Alphys began before quickly shutting her mouth and slowly shaking her head, "well, it's worse, I really can't say anything else."

"You really can't, you're sure?" Undyne asked, raising a brow skeptically. "C'mon Alphys, I can tell this is eating you up. I'll help, but I need to know what's going on!" Silenced stretched on, moment after endless moment. Alphys wanted to talk, but clamped her mouth shut instead. Eventually Undyne sighed and slowly turned to walk away. "Well okay then, I'm sorry," Undyne said sadly as she took a step, "when you want to talk, I'll be ready to listen."

"Okay, alright!" Alphys said desperately as she reached out for Undyne, "I'll tell, I'll tell, that crazy little tulip is going to murder me for this, but I just can't do this alone anymore!"

"Oh thank you!" said Undyne with relief, letting out a tense breath as she turned to walk back to Alphys, "I really didn't want to leave without you." Before Alphys could say anything Undyne quickly kneeled down and wrapped her arms around her shoulders; hugging Alphys firmly and nearly knocking the coffee cup out of her hands. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too," Alphys said with a soft smile as she leaned into Undyne and wrapped an arm around her as best she could. "I just, I dunno, things get complicated sometimes."

"Nobody knows what to do all the time, Alphy," Undyne said comfortingly as she slowly broke off the hug. "And if you need a little time to pull yourself together before telling me, that's fine.

"No, I've made up my mind," Alphys replied as she took a deep calming breath, "but, well there really is somebody I should call first. Like I said, this really isn't my secret."

* * *

The sounds of happily squealing people, the mechanical thrum of colorful spinning rides, and inoffensive pop music blasting from a nearby hotdog vender; all greeted Frisk as she walked away from mechanical spinning tea-cups. The world swerved slightly as Frisk walked down the cement path leading away from the ride she'd just gotten off. She could still feel Flowey tipping from left to right within his pot, giggling slowly as he dealt with his own much greater lingering dizziness.

"That feels weird," Flowey slowly drawled as his eyes slowly came back into focus, "we should do that again!"

"Uh, maybe?" Frisk answered as she scrawled up her eyebrows with uncertainty and turned to Monster Kid. "MK, do you want to go again? I mean it's your birthday and everything."

"Nah, no way dude," MK said a bit boredly as he looked back at the teacup ride with disdain. Frisk quickly thought back to the ride. While Flowey screamed as much as any kid, and had actually seemed a bit alarmed at one point, MK had seemed almost bored. "I guess that was fun and all, but we should go for the big guns next!"

"Big guns?" Frisk repeated slowly, not certain she liked where this was going.

"Yeah, yo we should go ride Typhon!" MK said excitedly as his eyes went wide. "They just opened it, and i hear it's just crazy!"

"Heh, well define crazy for me," Flowey asked uneasily as he subtly looked back and forth between MK and Frisk.

"Um, it's that roller coaster over there," answered Frisk as she turned and pointed up at a gargantuan tower of deep red steel beams. The beams supported an upside down U-shaped track in the air. Even from where the trio stood it seemed like the rollercoaster climbed a hundred meters straight up. As Flowey looked, a chain of cars could be seen rounding the peak of the tower. They paused at the top for just a moment before the cars inched forward and plummeted straight down toward the earth. A chorus of distant shrieks could be heard as the riders spiraled downward like a corkscrew during the car's descent. It was only at the last moment that the track leveled off, only to launch its passengers back up a ramp towards the sky. Frisk could feel Flowey go deathly still in his pot, as his breaths became long and shallow.

"Yo, isn't isn't amazing!" MK beamed as he hopped up and down on his feet excitedly. "I hear it's supposed to reach shuttle re-entry speeds, and there's already been three accidents since they've opened it!" Slowly Frisk looked down at Flowey, his eyes were wide and twitched erratically as she watched. His entire body had suddenly become pale, and his petals all drooped to the sides lifelessly.

"I, don't want to die," Flowey mouthed almost wordlessly.

"Hmm, yo did you say something?" MK asked curiously as he turned to look down at Flowey.

"I said, ARE COMPLETELY INSANE!?" Flowey snapped spastically as he thrashed about in his pot. "That thing's a death trap, and I'm a freaking flower!"

"We're not making you ride that Flowey," Frisk said in a flat, matter of fact manner.

"Darn right you're not!" Flowey shot back as he looked back up at the roller coaster and shook his head back and forth vigorously. "Nope, no no no, you just can't make me!"

"But I wanna go!" MK grumbled back in annoyance, "and why do we have to look after your. whatsit, anyway?" Frisk sighed at the question, and was thankful that Flowey seemed to be so patient today. She knew that MK and Flowey didn't exactly get along all that well, but she wasn't exactly going to leave Flowey alone with Toriel after what had happened earlier. After Mom had returned to the picnic shelter she seemed to be pretty well. Despite that, Frisk kept seeing her stealing quick suspicious glances at Flowey. She was certain that mom hadn't guessed that Asriel and Flowey were almost the same person. However, she didn't want to press her luck by leaving Flowey alone with Toriel so soon.

"I don't think they'd let Flowey ride anyway," Frisk said calmly with a shrug, "but maybe someone there could watch him while we ride?" Frisk smiled uncertainly as she asked, not really liking the idea. Short as it'd be, Flowey could get pretty unpredictable with strangers. Idly she wondered how difficult it'd be to track down Papyrus. Leaving Flowey with the skeleton might be safer.

"Okay, then let's go!" Monster Kid said excitedly as he quickly began jogging ahead, "Typhon awaits!"

"Oh, huzzah," Flowey replied flatly and sighed, "onward, to the death trap!."

"Hey wait up!" Frisk called out as she hurried to catch up as quickly as she could while carrying Flowey in her arms, "you'll trip again!"

"Nah, I'm totally over that yo!" MK yelled back, only for a clawed foot to catch against the ground. The boy abruptly stumbled forward on one foot for several hops, and finally fell forward with a loud yelp.

"Well, she did warn you," Flowey said with a sneer as Frisk hurried to MK's side.

"Are you alright?" Frisk asked as she kneeled down and momentarily placed Flowey's pot on the ground, to help lift MK up by the shoulders.

"Yeah, I'm good," Monster answered with a grin, blushing red as he got back onto his feet, "I'm pretty tough, ya know?" Frisk grinned at that, lately she'd kinda been getting the impression that MK had been trying to show off, and talk himself up for some reason, it was weird. Before Frisk could answer her phone rang loudly from within her shorts pocket. All three children quickly glanced towards the source of the noise on instinct.

"Hold on a second," Frisk said as she finished getting MK steady on his and reached into her pocket. Quickly she looked at the phone's screen and read Alphys' call info. "Yeah, I should answer this, it could be important," Frisk said as she hit the answer button, "hello?"

"Frisk, I'm telling Undyne!" came the hushed but urgent voice of Alphys on the other end of the line.

"Wait what!?" Frisk asked in alarm as her eye's widened. "You don't mean about Flowey do you?" Frisk asked, sounding a bit panicked, "Alphys, that is a bad idea!"

"Frisk, I'm sorry but I have to," Alphys said emphatically through the phone. "Look, I haven't been entirely honest about something. Undyne figured out I was keeping secrets from her a month ago, and she left on the spot. She's going to give me another chance, but I need to tell her everything for it to work!" Frisk scrunched her face up as if in pain when she heard this. Alphys was a great person, but she also needed a lot of support from the people around her. Parting with Undyne, and then keeping quiet about it, must have been agonizing for her.

"Why didn't you say anything Alphys," Frisk asked in a tone that she hoped was sympathetic, though she knew her frustration was showing through as well. "I could've done, I dunno, something!"

"Frisk, you're a kid, not a couple's counselor!" Alphys answered in an exasperbated sigh. "Besides, I really didn't want to burden you anymore. You already have so much to deal with with watching after, you know who."

"Okay, I get it," said Frisk as she closed her eyes and took a calming breath. "Are you really sure you want to do this, it's a big secret, and she might not even believe you?"

"I, uh, well I'm in the park, I was kinda hoping you'd come back me up?" Alphys asked nervously, stuttering as she asked the question.

"Oh for- It's MK's birthday!" Frisk groaned pitifully, nearly whining. "I can't keep ditching him!"

"I know, I know, but it's really urgent," Alphys argued uncomfortably, "and it's more your secret than mine. I'll tell her if I have to, but I really think it should be one of you two."

"Fiiiiiine," Frisk said in surrender as she let out a long breath, "where do you want us to meet anyway?"

"Mmm, near the outdoor amphitheater maybe?"

"Fine, I'll be there as soon as I can," Frisk stated calmly, "but you know, you know who isn't going to be happy about this, right?"

"Oh, believe me, I know!" Alphys answered nervously. "Thank you Frisk, I really am sorry about this."

"It's okay," Frisk replied back with a resigned sigh, "see you soon." With that Frisk ended the call, and quickly put the phone back in her pocket.

"Yo, what's going on?"MK asked uneasily, "that sounded serious." Frisk looked up at Monster's frowning worried face and put on the warmest smile she could manage, hoping it'd reassure her friend.

"It's, it's not too serious," Frisk said stiffly, not feeling very comfortable with the idea of misleading MK. "I just need to go help someone out with something real fast. It shouldn't take too long."

"But, Friiisk," MK asked pleadingly as his whole body slumped in defeat, "it's my birthday, and what about Typhon?"

"I'm sorry, I hate to do this but it's important," Frisk said softly, smiling as she held up her hands in a manner she hoped was reassuring. "Really, it shouldn't take long, but you could go without me if you don't want to wait."  
"I wanted to go with you," MK answered with a quiet mutter as he stared down at his feet listlessly. The statement had sounded so much like a whisper, that Frisk wasn't the least bit certain she'd heard him properly.

"Hm, I'm sorry what was that?" Frisk asked as she bent over and picked up Flowey's pot, hoisting the flower into her arms. Frisk really needed to go, but she wanted to make certain Monster was all right. She really did feel bad about leaving him like this on his birthday, even if it was for an emergency.

"Huh, no, I'm fine I'm fine!" MK answered with an awkward forced chuckle as he looked back up at Frisk and exposed his furiously blushing face. "I'll just find something else to do and wait," he continued as he puffed himself off, shedding the disappointed air he wore moments earlier. "You go and take care of your thing, I'll be fine by myself."

"Alright," Frisk said loudly as she began to hurry down the path in the opposite direction of where they were going. "I'll be back as soon as I can!"

"So, I take it the scaley weeb is going to spill the beans?" Flowey asked with a low rumbling growl as he looked up from his pot.

"Yeah, she's going to tell Undyne," Frisk said with a slight huff of exertion as she swerved to avoid an oncoming crowd of people.

"Oh, doesn't that just figure!" Flowey groaned grumpily as he shook his head in disgust, "I knew we shouldn't have trusted that dweeb!" The plant visibly gritted his teeth as Frisk swiftly hurried towards their destination.


	9. Chapter 9

Undertale: Long Road

By: Nathan Weaver

Chapter 9

* * *

Undyne half sat on the railing separating the outdoor amphitheater from the walkway. Looking down she quickly studied row after row of descending aluminum bench seats surrounding a wooden stage. It reminded her of the theater in the underground that Asgore had taken her to once, when she was younger. She'd fallen asleep on that trip however, so she didn't remember much about what actually went on. Here, apparently they put on shows and musical performances, it sounded rather fun to Undyne, but no shows were scheduled for today. As a consequence, this little corner of the theme park was all but abandoned; save for the occasional few people passing by on their way to someplace else.

Undyne shifted position and reached for her pocket as her phone vibrated. Running her fingers along the screen, she brought up a rather terse message from Tilin, asking her to pick her up at the entrance when she was ready to go. She grinned at that, leave it to that punk to ditch her and then ask for a ride.

"Anything important," Alphys asked with a yawn before returning to her second cup of coffee.

"Nah, just something I'll need to take care of later," Undyne said with a wave of her hand as she stuffed the phone back into her pocket. "Are you sure you should be drinking all of that?"

"I uh, you know I don't really know," Alphys said with a nervous chuckle as she took another sip, "I uh, guess we'll find out soon enough." Undyne raised an eyebrow as Alphys tipped the paper cup and quickly drank the coffee down, leaving Undyne shaking her head slowly in dismay. If this exhaustion thing really was really being caused by whatever Alphys was doing to herself, then this secret had better be a doozy. It was going to take a lot to convince Undyne all of this was justified.

"So when's this mystery guest arriving?" Undyne asked casually as she stretched her arms out above her head, and arched her spine with a bit of a groan. "I mean, I don't mind waiting, but if it's going to be a while we should probably go have fun."

"Actually I think I can see her coming now," Alphys said brightly as she stood on her toes and pointed while craning her to she side. "Yeah, there she is, coming out from behind that group over there."

"Wait, what?" Undyne said dumbly as her eyes followed where Alphys was pointing. Now that she knew where to look Undyne could clearly see Frisk coming around the corner, along with that angry little flower she seemed to haul around everywhere. She really didn't know who she was expecting, but Frisk, one of her absolute besties, was not it. "Alright, I'll admit it," Undyne stated skeptically as she gestured towards Frisk, "I did not see that one coming!"

"Okay, alright I'm here," Frisk announced with a huff as she came to a stop in front of Alphys.

"Of course you're here," Flowey said testily as he glared up at his carrier, "where else would you be!?"

"Oh don't be a jerk Flowey!"

"Do you even know me!?"

"Well, your comedy routine is coming along nicely it seems," Undyne said jovially and she stepped forward and mussed up Frisk's hair with a grin, "good to see ya, punk!" If someone had told Undyne a few years ago that one of her best friends would one day be human, she'd have laughed and called them a fool. She smiled at the thought; in this case she'd be happy to be wrong.

"Heh, Heya Undyne," Frisk said, smiling as she brushed the hair from her eyes with one hand.

"So, shortstop, what is this big secret exactly?" Undyne asked Frisk uncomfortably as she rubbed the back of her own neck anxiously.

"I have not agreed to this!" Flowey barked out angrily from his pot down below. Undyne quickly glanced down at the plant and studied its sullen face as it glared back up at her. That creature, Flowey, he'd always been a bit of a mystery to her, and to most monsters really. It was obviously a magical creature of some sort, but definitely wasn't a monster either. The bigger mystery was how Frisk could actually stand spending so much time around the thing. Flowey was just a jerk as far as Undyne was concerned.

"Oh, so this is your secret then!" Undyne stated with a triumphant grin as she stared down at Flowey. "I guess I should have known! So, what is he anyway Alphys, another accident like the Amalgamates?" Undyne turned back towards her saurian girlfriend as she asked, seemingly unaware of tiny flower quivering in fury behind her.

"I WILL SWALLOW YOUR SOUL!"

Yep, definitely a jerk, Undyne thought with a wry grin.

"Flowey no, stop right now!" Frisk nearly yelled as Undyne turned around to see two long whiplike vines covered in thorns, arched high to the plant's sides and ready to strike. Years of training took over as Undyne shot her arm out to the side and drew on the magical power of her soul to materialize a spear of pulsing blue energy within her grip. Without thinking the warrior took a defensive battle stance; her arms coiled and ready to strike should those dangerous vines so much as sway aggressively.

"Oooookay, wrong foot, definitely off on the wrong foot!" Alphys blurted out half hysterically as she stepped between the two and held out unsteady open hands to either side. "Alright, let's just all take a deep breath and start over, okay?!" As she said this Alphys herself was taking rather deep strained breaths as her eyes quickly darted about in near panic.

"Dangit Alphys, don't jump into the middle of a fight like that," Undyne snapped as she released the spear, it's blue light winked out of existence as the magic sustaining it was cut off. At the same time Undyne could see the plant's vines slowly retracting back into the soil of the flower-pot, as Flowey hissed at Undyne like a vicious angry cat.

"Please, just please tell me he's isn't the jerk you've been bleeding yourself dry over!?" Undyne asked tiredly as she quickly looked around the area. It appeared as if only one mousey looking human woman had been around to see the near fight. Thankfully she was quickly pumping her legs away from the scene, while pointedly pretending she hadn't seen a thing.

"Bleeding yourself dry?" Frisk asked quizzically as she turned to Alphys with a curious but concerned expression.

"Ehehe, I uh, I'll tell you about that later," Alphys answered nervously as her eyes quickly shifted from person to person. "Let's just uh, back things up a little, okay?"

"Okay, yeah you're right," Frisk said with a shake of her head, "Flowey, are you going to be okay with this?"

"Oh, now you ask!" Flowey whined angrily as he turned his head glared menacingly off into the distance. "That's funny, it's not as if you need my permission to talk about my life story or anything! Oh no, none of that is personal at all!"

"Is he always so whiny, or do I just bring out the best in him?" Undyne asked quietly as she looked down at Alphys. The tiny scientist answered by gently elbowing Undyne in the side and raising a single quieting finger to her lips before pointing at the flower, who was glaring at Undyne hotly.

Undyne sighed and took the hint, pressing her lips firmly together as she resolved to keep a lid on it. Strictly speaking she knew that was the smart thing to do in a situation like this, but she really didn't like that flower. Honestly, she couldn't understand why so many people were willing to tolerate it after the stunt it pulled in the palace. He'd attacked them all for crying out loud, captured them all in an instant. She could still remember struggling against that creature's vines as it tormented poor Frisk. Fuzzy memories or not, she couldn't understand why everyone else was so eager to forget about that.

"You know what, you're right Flowey, I'm sorry," said Frisk in a clear genuine voice as she let out a long sigh, "this just came up so quickly, I really didn't stop to think."

"Of course you didn't," Flowey shot back irritably, as he shook his head and took a long slow breath. "Just, let me think it over alright, then maybe you guys can do, whatever!" The flower closed its eyes and just breathed deeply for several long moments, his head occasionally tilting from side to side as he slowly mulled over his thoughts. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, Flowey stopped moving and seemed to make up his mind.

"Fiiine, you can tell her," Flowey said tiredly with a shrug as he opened his eyes, "but she needs to promise not to tell anyone, especially Toriel or Asgore!"

"Yeah, whatever," Undyne said with a shrug as she took a few steps closer to Frisk. She rather doubted Asgore or Toriel would even be interested in this little creeps secrets.

"Oh ha ha, yeah whatever." Flowey repeated sarcastically as he tried his best to mimic Undyne's shrug. "You're not taking this seriously fish face!" he continued sharply, "I need you to promise me this, I don't want to deal with that sort of drama right now!"

"Alright I won't tell, sheesh!" Undyne said grumpily with a roll of her eyes as she raised her palms in surrender. She really just couldn't understand this paranoia, what secret could this thing possibly have that could even relate to the king and his old lady, let alone cause drama. Regardless, she began to get the feeling that this wasn't going to go anywhere unless she played along. "Look, if you all feel so strongly about this then fine, I promise I'll keep this secret, happy?"

"Happy, no of course not," Flowey spat out with a huff as he stared down at the ground sullenly, "but Frisk can clue you in if she really wants, I won't stop her now!"

"Me," Frisk asked incredulously as she stared down at the plant she was holding, "it's your life!"

"Uh huh, and she's your friend," Flowey answered in annoyance as he rolled his eyes, "she probably wouldn't listen to me anyway."

"Fine," Frisk said with a weary groan as she closed her eyes and sighed, "give me a moment, I'm really not sure where to start this." Frisk paused for a moment and looked around, thinking, before finally her eyes finally came back to Undyne. "You know who Asriel is right?" Undyne's heart skipped a beat as she heard the question.

"You mean, Asgore's kid right, the one of the two that-?" Undyne trailed off in the middle of asking and took a deep breath as she brought up a hand to grab her temples. Hardly anyone ever said that name at the palace, for good reason. She was only a kid herself when those two children died, nothing more than a squire serving under Asgore. Despite that, she could still remember the heavy gloom that had fell upon the palace at the time. She could only watch helplessly as the king fell to pieces, it was the most heartbreaking thing she'd seen in her young life. "Yeah, I know who he was," Undyne said somberly as she took a long breath and stared off into space, "I met him even, but that was a long time ago."

"You knew Asriel?" Frisk asked curiously with a tilt of her head, her shoulders seemed to loosen up as she asked.

"Yeah, not well though," Undyne answered reluctantly, waving the question away with one hand, "the royal children sat in on one of my training sessions with Asgore one time." Undyne couldn't help but smile at one corner of her mouth at the memory. She didn't know why the kids wanted to see her training all of a sudden, but having just recently lost her eye they were treated to her flying onto her backside more often than not. She could still remember the prince, this weepy-eyed kid not much younger than she was, walking up to her with a towel clenched tightly in his hand and offering it to her afterward. She couldn't help smiling more broadly thinking about this child, who didn't even know her, showing so much concern.

"Oh yeah!" Flowey said with a grin, drawing out the last word as if something had just dawned on him. "I remember that, the old man kept knocking you flat with blows to your left," Flowey's grin grew wider as he shook his head and began chuckling quietly.

"Alright, what the actual hell?" Undyne hollered as she stared at Flowey with a perplexed bug-eyed expression. That had been exactly what happened, but it wasn't as if that weed had been around to see it.

"Language," Frisk said as if she'd bitten into a lemon. She really didn't want Undyne setting a bad example for Flowey.

"Sorry Frisk," Undyne responded with a fluster as she looked back and forth between the two, "but how could he possibly know that!?"

"Well I was there, duh," Flowey answered mockingly as he grinned up at Undyne, "how else would I know about it, dummy!"

"Uh, yeah about that," Frisk said tiredly as she held out the palm of one hand. "Look, I'll just come out and say it, but it really is going to be hard to believe. Long story short, Flowey is..."

"Was," Flowey corrected, loudly.

"Fine," Frisk quickly added with a frustrated groan, "Flowey used to be Asriel!"

Undyne blinked as Frisk finished speaking, her eye shifting from left to right repeatedly as she tried to process things. She had heard everything Frisk just said, knew the words, and even understood their meaning. Yet, somehow the phrase as a whole just didn't make any sense to her. As Alphys might have put it, the data did not compute!

"I'm sorry, I must not have heard that right," Undyne said slowly as she further furrowed her brows, "could you repeat that again?"

* * *

The warm sunlight shined through the large clean windows of Kapua Punch; a small smoothie shop that operated within the theme park. The clamor of many people chatting around small orange tables, and the occasional growl of whirring blenders; all but drowned out the two employee's taking orders behind the counter.

Without thinking about it Toriel found herself repeatedly tapping the claws of her dominant hand noisily along the table. It was a nervous habit that she'd never been able to fully break, despite trying for centuries. Sighing, she tore her hand from the table and forced it into her lap as she closed her eyes, and tried to focus on the currents of air being forced along her fur by the fanblades above.

"You still seem, quite tense Lady Toriel," said Papyrus as he arched an eye socket and sat the thick, pink smoothie he had been drinking on the table. "I know I've asked already, but are you sure you don't want to talk about what's bothering you?"

"No, it is really quite fine," Toriel answered softly as she picked up the paper cup containing her iced tea, "and I told you, you do not need to address me so formally." She smiled gently as she looked over at Papyrus. After the birthday party the skeleton had insisted on spending some time with her and making certain she was all right. However, somehow before they made it to the theme park he had found time to change clothes. Now he wore sunglasses, a bushy black afro-wig, and a bright pink t-shirt that had the words, 'Not Papyrus,' printed on it in bold black letters. Re-reading the words on the shirt, Toriel had to force herself not to quietly chuckle.

Toriel knew that as a celebrity, Papyrus had to have trouble with admirers and the press. She herself occasionally had these issues, and Papyrus was a far more familiar face to humans than she was. That said however, his disguise clearly wasn't fooling anyone. For the past several minutes Toriel had caught glimpses of several humans staring when they thought no one would notice. Realizing that a human man at the next table was doing just that right this moment, Toriel turned and subtly waved with her fingers as she gave what she hoped was a reassuring smile. The man stiffened at the gesture, and suddenly found something very interesting to study at the bottom of his cup.

"If you say so, Frisk's Mom," Papyrus said with a sigh as he shrugged and rubbed at the back of his skull, "but remember, I'm all ears if you change your mind!"

"Yes well, I'll keep that in mind," Toriel replied with a sigh as she took a sip of her iced tea and savored the refreshing chill as is flowed down her throat. While she would have loved to unburden herself, Toriel didn't feel as if she could tell Papyrus what was bothering her. It would be rather difficult for her to even begin putting her anxieties into words. She still couldn't even begin to understand how that creature, Flowey, could possibly have the same magical aura as her son.

Family members, or people who were taught by the same person could sometimes have similar aura's, but she had never encountered two different people whose aura's were actually identical. At first she thought she may have imagined the similarity, but the more she compared the two aura's in her memory the more she was convinced that they were truly the same. To say that didn't make sense to her, would've been a huge understatement to say the least.

"Say, Papyrus," Toriel asked uncertainly, as she forced herself out of her inner thoughts. "This is going to sound like an odd question, but have you ever heard of two different people having an identical magical aura?"

"Hmm, you're right," Papyrus answered slowly as he brought his loosely clenched fist up to his chin in thought, "that is an odd question." The skeleton narrowed his eyes in thought as he rubbed his chin, "I can't say that I've ever heard of that, sorry." Papyrus threw out his hands in an open handed shrug of defeat, "you might have better luck asking my brother. Don't tell him I told you, but Sans tends to know more about these sorts of things."

"Oh, does he really?" Toriel asked curiously with a slight tilt of her head. She knew Sans was smarter than he let on. She'd happened upon some of his reading material once, and it was mind bogglingly complex. Then there was that strange-looking science project he'd started when he took over the garage, which he had renamed his Chamber of Secrets. Still, he'd seemed more a scientist than a magic user to her. "Well, perhaps I will ask him then, once I return home of course."

"Do that!" Papyrus said brightly as he let out a quick nasal chuckle, "my brother may be a lazy little schemer, but he always comes through when you need him to. He may surprise you!"

"I assure you, it would not be a surprise," Toriel smiled back before reluctantly reaching down to pick up her purse. "Papyrus, would you mind if I went outside and made a private phone call? There's really something I need to check on."

"Very well," Papyrus stated loudly as pointed a single finger into the air, "I the great, not Papyrus, shall nobly guard your drink until your return!"

"My hero," Toriel grinned widely as she stood to leave, "your kingdom shall never forget this noble deed!"

"I should hope not!"

After exiting the front of the shop, Toriel quickly walked to the side of the building, where there was a small private gap between Kupua Punch and the next shop over. Taking out her phone, Toriel looked down and stared at the device's bright screen for a long hesitant moment. If the truth were to be told, she really didn't want to make this call. The idea of talking to that man when she didn't actually have to, filled her with a special vintage of dread; one that she rarely experienced under any other circumstance. Despite that, she needed to try to find some answers, she needed to do something, anything to somehow put her mind at ease. Letting out a long sigh, Toriel quickly ran her fingers along the pad and raised the phone to her ear as the ringtone began to play.

"Howdy, this is Asgore speaking," came a deep cheerful voice on the other end of the line "how can I help you?"

Asgore Dreemurr, the former king of monsters, was a tall, broad, bull-horned, white-furred monster that sported a shaggy mane of gold along his head and chin. Like Toriel, he somewhat resembled something that looked like a mixture between a two-legged goat, a bull, and a canine.

"Hello Dreemurr," Toriel answered flatly as she did her best to keep her voice and features under control, luckily she'd been getting a lot of practice at this over the months. "I'm not interrupting anything important, am I?

"Tori, no, no of course not!" Asgore said hurriedly, as the faint sound of papers being pushed aside could be heard across the line. "I'm, just a bit stunned that you actually called. Did we have business we needed to discuss today? I could have sworn that you had the day off."

"I do," Toriel quickly replied, "today was the birthday party, for Frisk's friend. Those two are off having fun together somewhere."

"Ah, how is Frisk doing anyway?" Asgore asked brightly, clearly interested.

"She is fine," Toriel answered in a matter of fact tone, as just a hint of ice crept into her voice, "and we'll leave it at that. I am certain we both know I did not call to be social." Toriel quickly shook her head and tried to focus her thoughts. Dealing with her ex-husband was always a bit tiring for her. Although he had his reasons the man had essentially ordered the death of several children, in a bid to break the barrier that trapped them all underground. Yes he had his reasons, and he clearly deeply regretted his actions, but the decision had created a deep chasm between them regardless.

"Well I had hoped, but yes I suppose I did," sadness clearly flavored his words as he said this. Toriel found herself taking a breath to push away any petulant sense of satisfaction she got out of hurting this man. It's not as if she actually wanted to make the poor fool suffer and Frisk had made it clear that she wanted her to try to get along with him. However, the pain and bitterness her ex-husband had caused her could be difficult to ignore.

Well, technically they were still married, but that was little more than a convenient political fiction. Toriel had never formalized the dissolution of their union before going into her self-imposed exile. After the barrier was broken and contact with humanity was re-established, Toriel was persuaded that having two monarchs to represent their kind would be for the best. However she never dreamed negotiations with the local human government would take this long.

"So," Asgore continued with a sigh after a long pause, "what can I do for you today?"

"I encountered something rather jarring earlier today," Toriel said a bit uneasily, not entirely certain how to proceed. "I will not bore you with the details but, tell me, is it possible for two entirely different people to have an identical magical aura?"

"Wow, I've never been asked that before actually! Hold on, give me a moment to think," briefly the line went silent before the distant sound of asgore quietly humming and hawing in thought could be heard over the speaker. Toriel couldn't help grinning a little at that, he had the habit of thinking loudly as long as she'd known him. It tended to lead many to underestimate his mind, which was usually a mistake. Royal monsters like themselves lived a very long time, and had extremely good memory. However, with even a few hundred years worth of memories to sort through, recall could sometimes be a bit time-consuming. Toriel had developed habits to cope with this as well, but her's weren't quite as noticeable.

"Alright," said Asgore as the sound of the phone being moved back into place could be heard over the line. "To answer your question, no as far as I know it shouldn't be possible for two different people to have the same magical aura."

"You are quite certain of this," Toriel asked quickly asked, pressing the issue, "it is not merely rare?"

"I'm fairly sure that's almost impossible. A person's magical aura is like a snapshot of who they were around the time they first learned how to use magic." As he went on, Asgore's manner of speaking slowly shifted from that of the lovable dope everyone knew to that of the confident and experienced leader he could be. Toriel knew that he used to be able to put on that face at will, but these days that part of him didn't show itself much. "For two people to have identical auras they'd have to discover their magic at the same time, come from the same family, be taught by the same people, and have at least near identical personalities. It's a big world and everything, but that doesn't seem possible to me."

"I suppose it does not at that," Toriel said with a sigh, as she closed her eyes and tried to sort out her thoughts. This was about what she expected, she had read similar things herself, but she had hoped that maybe she had overlooked something. Now, instead of clarity she was once again knee deep in confusion and anxiety.

"I'm very sorry, I'm guessing that isn't the answer you wanted to hear," Asgore said in a concerned tone, Toriel could practically picture his eyebrows furrowing in concern. "What's this all about, anyway?"

"It is nothing to concern yourself about," Toriel snapped automatically before pausing to collect herself. She didn't want this man asserting himself back into her private life, but still. "I'm sorry," she continued in a softer more calm tone, "it's nothing, I just ran into someone who had the same aura as, someone we knew."

"Golly, that had to be confusing," Asgore said as he let out a breath, "are you sure you weren't mistaken?"

"You know full well that my memory is just as good as yours!" Toriel answered in a flat unamused tone.

"Right of course, I'm very sorry" Asgore said defensively as he backpedaled, "it's just, most people wouldn't trust their memory as well as you do."

"No, it is fine," Toriel said quickly as she tried to wrap up the call, "I will see you at work Asgore."

"Oh, Tori, could you hold on for just a moment," Asgore quickly piped in, "there's a little something I'd like to ask, as long as we're talking like this."

"Yes, and I suppose this cannot wait until the next negotiation, or meeting?" Toriel asked with a sigh as she rubbed at the bridge between her eyes and tried to steady herself. Normally it wasn't this difficult to keep her emotions in check around this man, but she just didn't seem to have the patience today.

"Well you see, I'm organizing a community event," Asgore began nervously, his words sounding uncertain. "So, we're having a campout for young monsters and their parents. It should be happening a few months from now, at the end of summer. Well I thought that maybe I should invite Frisk to come along and join us. She is a part of our community too after all, and she can even bring that colorful little flower friend of her's if she'd like, it'll be fun!"

"I see," said Toriel as her head slumped tiredly, "and of course, I take it you will be attending as well?"

"Well, yes," Asgore said as if it should be obvious, Toriel could easily picture him shrugging on the other end of the line. "My talents may be a little out of date, but I'm still the most experienced outdoorsmen we have. Well, except for maybe Gerson, but he's not as spry as he used to be!"

"No," the simple word was spoken with the same warmth as a glacier. Toriel could hardly even believe he was trying to rope her into a social event like this. After what he had done to those six poor children, he knew full well that she didn't want any more to do with him than she absolutely had to. Toriel ground her teeth and took a deep breath, reigning in her emotions as she continued. "Even assuming this is no ploy for my company, I cannot put Frisk into the middle of any conflicts between us, you should know that!"

"I suppose I can understand that," Asgore responded slowly, each word heavy with regret "and I'll respect your decision..."

"That would be new," Toriel blurted out the words without thinking, and immediately regretted them. Squeezing her eyes tight with embarrassment she stomped down on her emotions once more, she just couldn't seem to keep herself in check today. "I apologize, that was petty and childish."

"No, no it's fine," Asgore said with a pained sigh, "I've put you through a lot, I know that. Besides, in a way this really was a ploy for company, just not a ploy for your company." Toriel blinked in surprise at the admission and took a moment to think over the statement.

"So, it is not me you wish to spend time with, but Frisk?" Toriel asked as she raised her eyebrows incredulously, floored that this wasn't solely about them for once.

"Is that really such a shock?" Asgore answered with a weary chuckle, "you know that I'm fond of her, if you hadn't offered to adopt her, I would have. That's hardly a secret." Toriel knew that was indeed true, in fact after thinking about it further she realized this shouldn't have been much of a surprise. Despite the circumstances behind how they met, Asgore had always had a certain affection for Frisk. In fact he always asked questions about her when they met, it was one of the few safe topics of conversation they had.

"I suppose that's all true," Toriel said with a shrug, "but why have you not said anything before now? This seems rather abrupt by your standards."

"To be honest, I couldn't really think of a good excuse to spend time with the girl," Asgore answered uneasily and paused for a long reluctant moment before continuing. "Besides, it felt wrong to ask. We both know that I don't really deserve to have children in my life again."

Toriel inhaled deeply and clenched her fist as the image of six tiny coffins flashed unbidden into her mind. Yes, a toxic voice in the back of her mind hissed, he didn't deserve to have any more children in his life, he didn't even deserve to pretend. Toriel closed her eyes and viciously beat down that petulant part of herself. No matter how bitter she felt, giving in fully to those emotions would be nothing short of cruelty.

Besides that, Toriel knew full well how much her ex-husband suffered because of his decisions. The old fool had always adored children, and she could still see flashes of pain and regret every day she was forced to work alongside him. She'd even caught him becoming teary-eyed, after seeing another human child that resembled one of the six that had died underground. Despite this, Toriel knew she could not forgive him for what he had done. The memories were just far too painful for her. That didn't mean she couldn't offer him some small mercy, however.

"Very well, as you wish" Toriel said softly as she slowly opened her eyes. "I will tell her about your campout, if she wants to go I won't stop her."

"Tori I, thank you," Asgore quickly answered, nearly tripping over his words, "really, this mean so much to me!"

"Do not make this more awkward than it already is, "Toriel said with a crooked half grin as she rolled her eyes, "this is a simple courtesy, nothing more."

"Well still," Asgore went on in a dumbfounded tone, "I really can't tell you just how much I appreciate this!"

"Think nothing of it," Toriel replied uncomfortably, she really didn't feel entirely comfortable with the old man being grateful to her right now. "Goodbye Asgore."

Without pause Toriel quickly ended the call and let out a long breath. Feeling weary, she looked up at the sky and let the back of her head rest against the side of the building. Though things had ended on a somewhat positive note, the phone call had been tiring, and she just hated the sort of person she became around Asgore. For a long moment Toriel stood there, resting as her eyes followed the movements of dark clouds billowing in from the direction of the ocean. As she breathed she noticed the strong scent of sea salt hitting her nostrils. Over the past year she had frequently noticed that scent when storms were moving in.

"Ah, there you are Lady Toriel!" Hearing her name she turned towards the voice of Papyrus, only to widen her eyes in surprise as she saw the skeleton standing near the corner of the building wearing nothing but his shorts. "I brought you your tea!"

"Oooh my!" Toriel proclaimed with a slight squeak as she brought her hands up to her mouth in shock. "Young man, would you kindly explain what happened to all of your clothes!?"

"Ah yes, well as astoundingly unbelievable as it may sound, the crowd somehow saw through my brilliant disguise!" Papyrus sighed and scratched at the back of his skull in embarrassment. "And, my loving fans you see, after you left they became just a bit grabby. You know, lately I've been starting to think that being popular may actually have a few downsides!"

"Yes well, fame doth indeed have its disadvantages," Toriel said with an rigid embarrassed smile as she walked up to the skeleton and gingerly took the proffered paper cup of tea. "Come now Papyrus, let us see if we cannot find you another outfit somewhere!"

"Yes ma'am!" the skeleton proclaimed boisterously as he snapped a quick military salute, "lead the way!"


	10. Chapter 10

Undertale: Long Road

By: Nathan Weaver

Chapter 10

* * *

The line of people milled about tightly between the two metal guide rails that outlined the path to the Ferris wheel. Alphys found herself fidgeting in place nervously as she looked up at the stairs leading to the platform where everyone boarded the cars. She bit her lower lip as she looked back down and tried not to be anxious. She was having a difficult time doing that, not only because she didn't like being in the middle of packed crowds, but also because Undyne clearly hadn't gotten the memo about the whole secrecy thing.

"I still can't believe that little jerk is the prince!" Undyne slowly shook her head as she said this, her expression still somewhat incredulous despite having had time to absorb things. "It's like, something out of a bad soap opera!"

"Ixnay on the incepray, kay!" Alphys spoke the words through clenched teeth as she stared uneasily at the ground. "I'm sorry but it's kinda a secret, ya know?" Alphys hoped that hadn't come out harsh. Still, after going through so much effort to keep this all under wraps, Undyne treating it casually was a bit disconcerting.

"Yea I know," Undyne replied a bit sheepishly and shrugged as she climbed the first few steps to the boarding platform. Things were really starting to move now that they were loading a new set of passengers into the cars. "It's just, it's so hard to wrap my head around this, ya know!" turning, Undyne reached down and offered Alphys a hand up the stairs.

"Thank you," Alphys said with a heavy breath as she hefted her way upwards. Stairs were just another one of the many disadvantages to having short, stubby legs. Upon reaching the top Alphys looked up to see a young male park attendant in a green polo going between people and dividing them up into small groups of various sizes. As he walked up to the monsters the young man paused, then briefly tilted his head as he looked down to see Undyne still holding Alphys' hand.

"Heh, so are you two together?" the attendant smiled widely as he asked the question, and pointed at the pair several times, making a sort of back and forth waggle with his finger.

"You bet!" Undyne answered the question with a wide grin of her own and pulled Alphys closer. The young man quickly pumped his fist in victory and silently mouthed, "Yes," before turning back towards the couple.

A few minutes later the two were led to a cozy white car, where they sat side by side as the wheel spun and other passengers were loaded. Alphys felt a brief moment of vertigo every time the Ferris wheel came to a stop, but they always passed without incident. Regardless, the view was amazing. Even with the sky darkening up with clouds Alphys could see the entirety of the city of Eagleton. She could see tall glass buildings, the boundless churning oceans, and the green and gray enormity of the mountains jutting off to the other side of the city. Even after more than a year on the surface, Alphys still had such a hard time grasping just how beautiful it could be up here.

"Sooo," Undyne drew the word out awkwardly after the silence stretched on too long, "what exactly is the game plan now, you know, with the prince? You're not going to keep draining yourself to make his medicine, are you?"

Alphys closed her eyes and sighed quietly once the question was asked. Earlier, when she reluctantly explained where Flowey's medicine had come from, and what donating it was doing to her, both Undyne and Frisk suggested taking a break for Alphys to recover. Telling them she'd think about it clearly hadn't been enough to diffuse things.

"I-I just don't know," Alphys furrowed her brow as she said the words, hoping they'd buy her a moment to think, "I kinda feel like have to. Asriel is the way he is right now because of me, I need to fix it."

"You can't keep beating yourself up over that Alphy," Undyne said softly, as she laid an arm around Alphys and pulled her closer. "It isn't your fault."

"But it is my fault!" her voice trembled softly as she pressed her cheek into Undyne's shoulder. "I was careless, I should have known better, and now that child is stuck as, well, that thing!"

"I know, as hard as all of this is for me to believe, I get why you feel like this," Undyne said wearily as she pulled Alphys tighter. "But he wouldn't even be alive without you, doesn't that count for something?"

"Why do you think the way he is now is better?" her eyes stung with the beginning of tears, as the last of the passengers were loaded and the Ferris wheel began to freely move. Instinctively she grabbed onto Undyne to steady herself as the car jerked into motion beneath them. "I'm sorry," Alphys muttered as she untangled herself from Undyne and placed her hands in her lap. "I know, I shouldn't get emotional it's just-. When Frisk decided to go back and get the prince, we just had that first big freeze of the winter, remember that?"

"Yeah," Undyne said after a brief moment, "that was pretty intense!"

"Yes well, she recruited me to go back into Mt. Ebott with her, said there might be someone that needed help in the ruins," Alphys paused to collect herself and looked blankly out over the landscape. "Well, she was right. The ruins were ice cold. We found Flowey right at the entrance, frozen and unresponsive."

"Oh no."

"Yeah, I don't know if the storm surprised him or whatever, but either way everything around him was shriveled up, and he was just so very still. At first, I thought he must have been, well-" Alphys trailed off uncomfortably and stared down into her lap. They both understood what had been left unsaid. "Frisk was just so upset, she started crying out, calling him Asriel over and over trying to get him to respond. That, that's how I learned who he really was."

"That kid really does care about everyone, doesn't she?" Undyne asked as she let out a long breath.

"Yeah," Alphys let out a quick nervous chuckle as she replied, "I could hardly even get her to leave Flowey's side when he was recovering. Frisk knows just how bad he can get, I'm sure, but she cares about him anyway."

She paused nervously and took a deep breath as she tried to sort out what she was about to say. She'd never been good with words, but she needed Undyne of all people to understand why she felt so strongly about this.

"I knew that I brought Flowey to life before I even met Frisk, but I didn't know who he was. I thought he was just, one more terrible little thing I'd created." Alphys briefly looked over to see Undyne slowly starting to nod in understanding. "I'm not proud of this, but I tried to forget him after coming to the surface. I can't do that now, not after knowing who he was, who he could be, what he means to people."

"Well, I get why you want to help him!" Undyne said as she let out a loud breath and pulled a strand of blowing red hair away from her face. "But can't you just take a few weeks to rest up? You look so tired, and I thought you said he was recovering faster than expected anyway!

"Way faster than expected!" Alphys said as she arched her eyebrows and slowly shook her head back and forth. "His soul was about twenty percent re-fused during his last check-up. He should start feeling some of the emotions he's lost again any day now."

"So, what's the problem with taking a break then!"

"As quickly as he's healing, I'm still in completely uncharted waters!" she shrugged with her hands helplessly. "For all I know, stopping Flowey's medicine for a few weeks could be just fine, or it could cause him to permanently regress. I just don't know, and I don't want to chance it when things are going so well!

"Alright, I get it," Undyne said thoughtfully as she slowly nodded her head, "this is important to you, and you don't want to mess it up, I can understand that."

"Yeah-" Alphys began only for Undyne to interrupt her.

"-But I'm not letting you do this all alone, you hear me!?" Undyne wrapped her arm around Alphys and pulled her firmly against her side as she said this! "I'll do the transfusions, or whatever you call them for the next few weeks until you're feeling better!"

"U-Undyne," Alphys croaked as she squirmed uncomfortably beneath the grip, Undyne didn't know her own strength sometimes. "That's, I'm sure I can manage without-"

"It's that, or I tie you up and lock you in the closet for the next few weeks!" Undyne grinned widely as she delivered the ultimatum.

"Okay," Alphys paused and slowly blinked several times as her eyes scanned about in thought, "that first option is starting to sound pretty good actually!"

"I'm glad you see it my way," Undyne said warmly as she took Alphys palm and gently entwined it around her own. The warmth of their enclosed hands was just enough to bring a bright blush to Alphys face as she realized just how close they were at that moment. "And, before I say anything else, I'm sorry about pushing all this stuff at you right now. Here we have the best view in town, and we're are talking about medical stuff!" Undyne let out a soft sigh and looked out at the scenery as she spoke.

"No, don't be sorry," Alphys leaned further into Undyne as she spoke, enjoying the closeness. "You're a direct person, you face your problems head on. I admire that actually, it certainly beats all the tip-toeing I've been doing lately."

"You're not tip-toeing!" Undyne snorted quietly as the Ferris wheel rotated their seat up for another voyage around the top. "You're trying to be responsible, you adorable little dork!"

"Thanks," Alphys said with a grin as she quickly looked out over the edge of the car. "Hey, how about we go pick up some snacks and watch that new anime after we're done here? You know, Go Go Adorable Angel Assassin Aimi?"

"Is that the one about that winged-baby that goes around shooting at people with a sniper rifle?"

"Yeah," Alphys said with a nod.

"SOLD!" Undyne let loose a huge toothy smile as she looked down at Alphys, "I think it's going to rain anyway. Might as well blow this place before we get wet."

Just as she said that Alphys felt the first cold droplet of rain splash down the back of her shirt, sending a visible shiver up her spine. Before she could say anything she felt another wet drop of water hit her, then another, and then the whole sky seemed to open up as a torrent of moisture began drenching them.

"I, I think you might have jinxed it!" Alphys said with a slight shiver as she ran her arms up and down her sides for warmth. Having spent several years of her life living near a magma flow, Alphys didn't particularly handle cold and wet all that well. For her part Undyne held a hand above her brows as she looked around, squinting.

"Looks like this might be pretty widespread actually," Undyne wiped the rain from her face as she bent down and pressed herself close to Alphys to share warmth. "Don't worry they'll get us down from here soon, and hey at least this isn't a lightning storm!"

Before the words fully left her lips a blinding flash of light made the world briefly go white. A second later both monsters could feel a crack of impact as the loud echo of thunder passed through them.

"Well," Undyne said with a wide nervous grin, "obviously I need to keep my big mouth shut!"

* * *

Tiny dots of water darkened the cement around Frisk's feet as the rain began falling from the sky. Flowey twitched involuntarily and let out a gasp as a droplet of cold water hit his face.

"No," Monster Kid looked up at the sky and groaned as the first few stray droplets grew in number and blurred toward the ground. Within moments the sound of water drumming against the earth became a white murmur that drowned out everything except MK's dismayed protest, "No-no!"

Flowey squinted through the rain as Frisk pressed herself up against the railing that served as the line's partition. People that had been waiting in line for an hour to ride the roller-coaster were already pushing their way out past them in search of drier ground.

"Attention guests," a perky female voice blared out from a speaker mounted up high on the steel beams of the ride, "due to lightning strikes in the area, this attraction is now closed for the remainder of the evening."

"NoooOOoo!" Monster Kid fell to his knees at the words registered and let his head sag with regret. Few people glanced down at the boy as they milled around him on their way out of the line.

"I'm so sorry!" Frisk said softly as she transferred Flowey to the crook of one arm and bent to help MK back-up. "I think we might have actually made it too if we'd gotten back a few minutes earlier."

Flowey turned away and smirked at the remark. Indeed they probably would've been able to ride that death trap, they were pretty close to the end of the line after all. If only some dashing young plant hadn't asked Frisk to stop for cotton candy. Oh well, Flowey thought as he mimicked a shrug, it was their loss and his sweet delicious gain.

"Hey Frisk," Flowey said as he noticed the water pooling in his pot, "get me out of this rain before I'm swimming in mud!"

"Oh right," looking around Frisk quickly scanned the area before pointing out a closed outdoor gift stand across the walkway, that was covered by a green and white striped awning. "There," she said as she was already moving, "that'll keep us dry for awhile."

Careful not to leave MK behind, Frisk reached the shelter after several long moments of splashing water everywhere with each step. Without thinking Flowey shook the moisture from his petals as if he was a dog, spraying a sheen of water droplets onto both Frisk and Monster Kid in the process. Plant or not, Flowey had never been fond of cold showers.

"Are you okay?" asked Frisk in concern as she turned towards MK, "Oh, man you're drenched!"

"Yeah, it kinda got me there didn't it?" Monster Kid sighed as he answered, smiling weakly as he looked down at his shirt, "but I'm tough yo, I'll be okay."

"If you say so," Frisk tilted her head uncertainly as she talked, and then paused, "how much money do you have left on you?"

"Heh, not much actually," he made a shrugging motion with his head as he answered. "My folks don't let me carry a lot on me."

"Well okay," Frisk let out a long breath as she looked out at the rain-soaked landscape around them apprehensively. "You two try to stay dry, I'll go buy an umbrella."

"Yo, Frisk, you're gonna get soaked!" MK nearly whined.

"I'm already soaked!" Frisk said a casual shrug as she bent and placed Flowey on the ground, "I'll just get it over with, so we can find our parents."

"Fine," Monster let out a loud breath of frustration as he looked out at the rain, "but be careful, alright?"

"I'll be okay," said Frisk as she stepped out from beneath the canopy, "be back soon!" She turned and waved as she began running through the rain, and disappeared around a corner as a distant flash of lightning illuminated the sky.

For several long silent moments, the two children sat silently beneath the awning, each doing their best to ignore each other. For his part, Flowey was interested in the storm. He found himself looking up at the inky dark afternoon sky, at how the clouds churned and folded in on themselves as rain raced down towards the earth. Flowey had seen one or two storms before, but always from the safety of home, and they weren't this intense. This was his first summer on the surface, and while he wouldn't go out of his way to say it, he kept finding all sorts of little things up here that were interesting.

"...can't believe this," he perked up as he heard Monster Kid grumbling loudly beneath his breath. Looking over, Flowey could see that the other monster looked, tense. His jaw was clenched, he shook his head in subtle little jerks, and his tail was slowly lashing about. Lacking empathy, Flowey had to learn to pay very close attention to things like body language in order to read people. He'd gotten pretty good at it too, but in this case, a blind man could've seen the brat was upset.

"Stop that,"Flowey groaned the words dismissively as he looked back up at the sky, "it's annoying."

"Stop what?" Monster Kid snapped irritably as he turned to face Flowey with a slight stomp of his foot, "I'm not doing anything!"

"And you're not doing it very loudly!" Flowey rolled his eyes and tried to ignore MK as he stared off at the churning clouds in the sky, "so just shut up and stop whining."

"I'm not whining!"

"Could have fooled me," Flowey said flatly, without looking over.

"Well," MK paused uncertainly for a moment before continuing, "I have a reason to be upset!"

"I don't care!"

"Look," Monster Kid continued after a moment, too dead set on venting to let Flowey's disinterest stop him. "First, there was that thing at the party, and I get that, really! Then you and Frisk just take off all of a sudden leaving me alone. Then when she finally does come back, this dumb storm hits!"

"Well," Flowey let out a long irritated sigh as he continued, "if you were so set on riding that death trap you should have gone alone, you idiot!"

"I didn't want, to go, alone!" MK said the words slowly, loudly emphasizing the words as he glared at Flowey angrily. "All I wanted to do today, the only thing I wanted to do, was ride some roller coasters with my best friend!"

Flowey suddenly felt himself clenching his jaw hard, as all-too-familiar feelings suddenly boiled to the surface. My best friend, he didn't know why hearing those words from this idiot made him so angry, but they did.

"My, best, friend," Flowey repeated the words slowly and cackled quietly, as if the words were a clever joke, "that's a good one!"

"What's so funny about that!?" MK demanded with a bluster, though his eyes shifted about uncomfortably at the direction things had taken.

"Well, you want something more than that right?" Flowey grinned darkly as he asked the question, fully knowing the answer, "I mean that part is obvious, well to anyone but her that is!"

Indeed it was pretty obvious, even to Flowey. Frisk had often dragged him along with her when she went to play with Monster Kid. For a long time it was just two friends hanging out; but starting a few months ago the way that brat had looked at Frisk had begun to, change. He seemed too happy whenever she arrived, disappointed whenever she had to leave, and blushed uncomfortably whenever she gave him too much attention. It was all rather nauseating.

"N-no," Monster Kid stepped back, blushing and visibly flustered at the accusation, "she, she's just my friend is all!"

"Aww sweet denial, isn't that just precious!" the plant laughed again as he slowly shook his head in an imitation of sympathy. "Maybe it's for the best, after all, it's not as if she could ever actually love you."

"W-why would you say that!?" Monster Kids unsteady voice came out with a stutter as he stared down at Flowey with wide uncertain eyes. "There's nothing wrong with me!"

"Nothing wrong with you, really?!" Flowey tsked in disapproval as he made a show of casually one of his leaves. "We both know that isn't true, I mean just look at yourself! You're pathetic, how could she possibly look at you and feel anything other than pity!"

"Shut up!"

"I'm just telling the truth!" Flowey grinned and savored the feelings he was experiencing as he watched this other child crumble. The building heat of his anger and the release of satisfaction played on each other beautifully! But, there was another emotion there too, a faint dull ache that he couldn't quite recognize. However, it wasn't worth stopping to examine the feeling, not when he wasn't even finished!

"Really, just look at yourself," the words flowed out smoothly as Flowey motioned towards MC. "I'm not sure if you've noticed this or not, but you don't have any arms! You can't write, you can't use a computer or read a book, you can hardly even pick yourself up off the ground!"

"Shut up!" Monster Kid snapped out the words loudly as he glared down at Flowey angrily, his breaths were coming in deep gasps that visibly made his chest rise. "I know that, I know, but I'm good at some things! Soccer, I'm great at soccer, I'll just keep practicing and go pro!"

"You, go pro!?" Flowey nearly choked on his laughter as he shook his head in disbelief. Just how easy was this brat going to make this? "Think back to that little pretend soccer camp you just came back from. Didn't the other kids avoid you while playing? Didn't the adults pull you out the moment things got the least bit rough? Monsters are weak, Humans wouldn't let you play against them seriously!"

Monster Kid looked pale as he took an uncertain step backward. He opened his mouth to say something, only to stand there wordlessly his mouth half open. Flowey took a deep breath and smiled. It had been awhile since he had had this sort of fun, this sort of exhilaration. That gnawing sensation from earlier had only grown stronger, but that didn't matter, he could ignore it.

"No, a disarming personality will only get you so far," Flowey's voice took on a high-pitched echo as he spoke through teeth clenched into a grin. "You'll need help your whole life. You'll be the one that everyone needs to coddle, that survives purely on pity!"

"Be quiet." the words came out as a bare unsteady whisper.

"The sad thing is, she'll keep humoring you too," Flowey continued without slowing. "She'll lie, and keep telling you to follow your dreams, even when she knows it's hopeless!"

"I said shut up!" Monster Kid glared angrily at Flowey as he panted loudly through grinding teeth.

"You don't have a future, not with her anyway!" lightning flashed off in the distance as Flowey spoke. "The only future you have is alone, a cripple on a street corner, begging for hand-outs!"

Suddenly Monster Kid took several steps forward out into the rain, and turned to stare down Flowey with angry reddened eyes. For the briefest of moments the plant thought he could see tears in the corners of MK's eyes, but if they were there they were immediately washed away by the rain. Taking a deep breath, he pitched his upper body forward.

"SHU-!" a deafening crack of thunder all but drowned Monster Kid out as screamed at the top of his lungs. His voice cut out as he finally ran out of breath, and MK stood there gasping for air, his breath coming out in huffs.

Flowey didn't have words. He'd expected something like this, he'd been looking forward to it! Now that it had actually happened, any satisfaction he'd felt just evaporated away. There was only that gnawing empty ache left, throbbing from somewhere in the center of his being.

"What about you, huh?" Monster's words shuddered unsteadily as he spoke through heavy angry breaths. "How can Frisk even stand being around you!?"

Flowey opened his mouth to fire back, but the words died in his throat.

"You're not a monster, you're not human, you're not even really a flower!" MK inhaled sharply as he bared his teeth. "You're just some, empty, angry, horrible thing, and you hurt everyone around you!" Monster sniffled loudly and began letting out quick blubbering gasps as his eyes sunk to the ground.

"I, I just, I hate you!" The words came out in broken ugly sobs that even the rain couldn't drown out, "I hate you so much!" The moment stretched on as thunder rumbled in the distance, only to be interrupted by the sound of wet footfalls not three meters away.

Turning sharply, Flowey gave a quick intake of breath as he saw Frisk standing there. She held a large red umbrella in her hands as she looked back and forth between the two with round worried eyes.

"Flowey, MK," she spoke slowly, turning to address each of them, "what's going on?"

Without speaking MK turned and ran away, panting loudly as each step splashed loudly against the ground. Flowey thought he could hear Monster say something, but it was blubbering and incoherent. Frisk reached out and began to chase after her friend, but with his head-start and speed, he was already turning a corner before she took two steps.

"What happened!?" Frisk asked in an unsteady panicked voice as she turned to face the plant, "Flowey, what happ-." She broke off mid-sentence with a curious tilt of her head, her eyes narrowing as she took in the flowers face.

Flowey realized he was breathing heavily and looked away from Frisk, squeezing his eyes tight. He wanted to tell her to go jump into a lake, but the words got stuck in his throat when he opened his mouth to speak.

"Asriel," Frisk asked in an intense firm tone, without raising her voice, "this is important! You need to tell me what happened and how you feel, right now!"

"How I feel!?" the repeated words didn't even sound like Flowey, he sounded softer more like his old self. Taking a shuddering breath he quickly looked around and tried to make sense of things. He didn't feel good at all, but, he didn't know what to call this hollow aching emotion inside of him.

"Frisk," he continued as he looked up at her with haunted eyes, "Frisk I, feel horrible!"


	11. Chapter 11

Undertale: Long Road

By: Nathan Weaver

Chapter 11

* * *

Sprawled out comfortably on her back, Tilin looked out at the rain from beneath the bench she had taken shelter under. When the storm hit, most of the humans had crowded into little booths or store-fronts to take shelter. Being small, Tilin had plenty of room under the benches at the center of the walkway near the exit of the park. The spot was plenty dry for the time being, and it was certainly more private than any of the other spots she had seen nearby.

Yawning, Tilin quickly stretched out, working some of the kinks out of her spine before grabbing her cell from her belt-pouch. No messages back from Undyne, still. She sighed as she sat the phone face down on the cement and tried to collect her thoughts.

She was certain she'd left enough messages. I'm ready to go Undyne, I don't want to get wet Undyne, and her personal favorite, not all of us are freaking fishes Undyne! She smiled as she recalled that last message and considered leaving another, but waved away the idea. Chances were ole fishy face was just too busy with her girlfriend to notice her. Big surprise there, of course.

Sighing loudly Tilin picked up the phone and dialed up her sister. Ever reliable, Kitlin answered a mere breath after she finished dialing.

"Hello, Tilin?" a familiar warm voice asked from the other end of the line, "are you surviving this storm okay? I can come meet you if you're in trouble." Aaaand there was the mothering, in record time too. Tilin couldn't help but let out a single wearily-incredulous huff as she grinned crookedly. The way she took care of everyone, nobody would ever believe that Kitlin was actually the younger sister. They did look almost exactly like her though, save for Kitlin having the exact opposite coloration. So most people did correctly guess that they were sisters at least

"It's not like you can drive here and get me, nerd," Tilin rolled her eyes as she slowly shook her head, "you have just as much trouble reaching the pedals as I do! It'd be nice if you could meet me at the station though."

"Sure thing Ane-chan!" Tilin could practically picture her sister smiling brightly as she cheerfully said the words. "Did you have fun spending the day with your friend?"

"Oh cut the moonspeak already!" Tilin groaned into the phone, aside from the weaponry, she didn't share her sister's appreciation of all things Japanese. "And no, things didn't quite go as planned. Undyne ran into her girlfriend and well-" Tilin spread the fingers of her free hand in a sort of poofing motion as she trailed off.

"Oh sweetie, I'm sorry!" Tilin briefly glanced away from the phone as thunder rumbled off somewhere in the distance. "I'm sure she didn't mean anything by it!"

"It doesn't matter," Tilin sighed and tried not to be annoyed by her sister's sympathy. She knew Kitlin was trying to help, but her pity could be galling sometimes. "She's not really my friend anyway, just a co-worker. Well, not even that anymore I guess."

"It does matter!" Tilin could hear her sister pacing in circles as she spoke, it was one of her little nervous habits. "You need to move on, to make friends!" Tilin clamped her muzzle down, biting back her response. She didn't even really want friends, but was not going to have this argument with her sister again!

"It really wasn't a problem," Tilin said with a quiet chuckle, "heck, I kinda encouraged it, those two needed to work some stuff out."

"Well, that was thoughtful of you."

"Eh, you know I hate seeing things left undone," Tilin waved away the compliment with a motion of her paw as she spoke, "the whole thing was bugging me, that's all."

"Well, still," Kitlin paused for a long moment on the other end of the line, "are you certain you don't want me to come get you? I have a friend that could give me a ride."

"No!" Tilin gruffly huffed out her answer before pausing to rein herself in, "sorry, I'll be fine. I can take care of myself."

"Alright," Kitlin said uneasily, "and, I don't have to worry about you doing anything to yourself?" Tilin closed her eyes and let out a deep breath as she heard the question. She supposed she couldn't blame Kitlin for asking her this so often, given what she did.

"No," Tilin opened her eyes and stared out at the rain with empty eyes as she answered, "I promised you didn't I? I'm not going to put you through that again."

"I'm sorry for asking," Kitlin said this in a manner that immediately made Tilin picture her with that soft worn out smile she'd often wear when she felt relieved. "It's just, well you know.."

"It's fine, I know I make you worry," and I'm going to keep making you worry aren't I, Tilin rolled her eyes in disgust at the thought, go me! "Anyhow, I'll send you a message when I know when my bus will arrive."

"Sounds good sis," Kitlin answered warmly, "and remember, you better watch out for yourself, because somebody loves you!"

"I will, and love you too," Tilin answered with a shallow smile, "later dork."

Ending the call Tilin put away the phone and spent a long wordless moment staring up at the bottom of the bench she was lying beneath. For a time she found herself enjoying the quiet, the calming sound of rain upon the ground. Soon enough however, she grew impatient and quickly stretched once before rolling out from beneath her shelter. Getting to her feet Tilin flattened her ears to keep the rain out and began walking. She casually took in the gray waterlogged scenery as she moved towards the exit.

Everything looked dull, dreary, and pointless.

* * *

Frisk pushed open the door and walked into her bedroom, carrying Flowey carefully in the crook of her free arm.

For the most part, Flowey had been quiet since the incident at the park, which in turn he'd hardly been willing to talk about when asked. The most she'd been able to get out of him was something about a fight, and then he sorta just got really quiet. He'd spent most of the past few hours either staring off into space or avoiding her gaze whenever she tried asking questions.

She was getting to be really worried about Flowey actually, but everything going on with MK wasn't helping either. Nobody had known where he'd gone too after running off. His parents had apparently found him about an hour later, but, that was only after everyone had spent that hour looking for him in the rain. That had left everyone worn out, and Frisk, well she felt absolutely fried!

After carefully setting Flowey down on his table on the other side of the room, Frisk walked over to her bed and promptly flopped face down onto her pillow. The fluffy softness of her bed was heaven after the long day, even if her clothes were still damp.

Moments later Frisk felt her phone vibrating in her pocket. Despite being tired, she flipped over with a slight groan of effort and fished out the device. To her relief, it was MK answering all the text's she'd sent earlier. She'd been really worried, and had probably sent him way too many messages.

Frisk quickly read the message before sitting bolt upright in bed, and swinging her legs out over the side of the bed. A part of her was suddenly grateful that she was so worn down, because she knew she'd be furious otherwise.

"You called him a, cripple!?" she emphasized the last word sharply as she turned to stare wide-eyed at the plant. Flowey just groaned loudly in response, almost like he had a stomach ache. "A cripple, really!?

"I know, I know!" Flowey grumbled out the words pitifully, "I just got angry, okay, you know I get angry-" He trailed off as he spoke, almost as if he lost either the energy or will to continue. Frisk took a deep breath and felt a tiny portion of her frustration melt away. By Flowey's standards, that was nearly an apology, but she still couldn't let it go so easily.

"And?" Frisk asked expectantly, drawing out the word as she motioned him to continue.

"And what?" he looked up and tried to glare at Frisk from across the room, but he couldn't seem to quite meet her eyes.

"Flowey," Frisk said flatly as she stared at the plant with a deadpan expression, "I know there's more to it than that! C'mon, talk to me about this!"

"Oh, and talk about what, exactly?" Flowey growled out the question like he was trying to be angry, but couldn't sustain it. It was like he was slowly deflating with each word. "What do you want to hear Frisk? That I had an epiphany, that I was racked with guilt? We both know that I can't be that way."

"That's what the medicine's for," Frisk said as she shrugged, though she didn't think for a second that Flowey hadn't felt anything earlier.

"Yeah right," Flowey said with an incredulous sneer as he turned and stared out the darkening window, "like that's going to change things one bit!"

"What do you mean?" Frisk asked and took a deep breath for patience, "Alphys says you're making great progress!"

"Well golly, if the illustrious Alphys says so it must be true!" Flowey rolled his eyes and sighed as he turned back to Frisk. "Even if I really believed that, which I don't, do you really think it'd make a difference?"

"Of course it would," Frisk said with a tilt of her head as she scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion, "why wouldn't it!?"

"Even if I did get my soul back, I'm still going to look like this!" he motioned up and down at his body, with a bitter expression on his face. "I'm going to be stuck like this forever, Frisk. If everyone's going to look at me and see a little abomination anyway, then maybe I'm better off without a soul!"

*Um, bro, from one soulless freak to another, that is the dumbest thing I've ever heard!

"Nobody really thinks's of you like that, Flowey," Frisk said uneasily as she leaned forward and rested her chin in her hands as she averted her gaze.

"You're a horrible liar Frisk!" Flowey said as he chuckled weakly and turned to stare back out the window again. Frisk let out a long tired breath as she tried to think. He really wasn't wrong, some of the others really were a bit put off by him. Still, she couldn't help thinking that was just an excuse, or maybe a half-truth. Either way, she didn't think there was much she could do when he was like this, and she still needed to try fixing things with MK.

"I'm going to go make a call," Frisk scooted forward and stood as she said this. "Oh, and you should probably start settling down too. We're going out with Uncle Sans and Papyrus tomorrow."

"You can count me out," Flowey said flatly as she walked towards the door, "I don't want to do this anymore!" Frisk's hand froze on the the doorknob as she turned to stare at her friend, her eye's widening slightly in growing alarm.

"What do you mean, you don't want to do this anymore?" Frisk asked tightly, though she tried not to sound worried, "do what?"

"Any of this!" Flowey answered in an incredulous frenzy as he turned to glare at Frisk. "No more outings, no more lunches, no more little check-up's, I don't even want to take that stupid medicine anymore! I just don't care Frisk, I'm sick of all of it!"

Frisk opened her mouth to reply, but she just couldn't think of what to say. The thought that he didn't care after all she'd gone through had hurt. She tried to reassure herself, to tell herself that this was just another lie, or that he was just freaking out; but that tiny sliver of doubt was already gnawing at her.

"I'm s-, look, I'm tired Frisk," Flowey said wearily, breaking the silence that had been building between them as his gaze fell back to the floor. "I just want to be alone, okay?"

"Alright," Frisk responded as she took a deep breath and looked away from Flowey, "if that's what you want. Do you need anything while I'm downstairs?"

"I'm good."

*No, no you're really not.

Nodding slowly, Frisk turned and walked out the door.

* * *

Though the sun had only just set, on the streets of Eagleton surrounded by tall buildings, it may as well have been the middle of the night. Helis took deep calming breaths and tried to relax as she leaned against a brick wall that was still damp from the recent storm. She'd only begun calming her jitters when a tin can loudly hit the ground with a clatter.

Snapping to attention she turned, expecting to find the person they were waiting for; only to see a small orange feline head peering out over the rim of a nearby dumpster. It's glinting eyes fell on her with animal curiosity.

"Kitty!" Helis beamed loudly as she pressed her hands together, and hopped up onto her tippy toes in excitement.

"As I live and breathe," Nigel said sarcastically as he grinned down at Helis from the opposite wall. "You're actually legitimately adorable, I wouldn't have believed it!"

"Shut up Nigel," Helis flushed with embarrassment as she stared down at the blackened pavement. So she had a thing for cats. She didn't see why he had to tease her about it.

"Get serious you two," Artur ordered with a weary roll of his eyes, "Helis, are you really sure this guy uses this route?"

"Yeah," Helis straightened up as she answered, "he cuts through here every workday." Though she spoke with confidence, Helis couldn't help clasping her hands together nervously. She just wasn't very comfortable with these sorts of things. Following random people around and charting their habits, just felt sinister to her. Still, given what they were up against it wasn't as if they had a choice, and it wasn't like anyone was going to get hurt.

"Ah, speak of the devil," Nigel said as he glanced down the alley-way.

Lifting her head, Helis clearly saw a feathered figure with a book-bag slowly walking towards them from the other end of the alley. Without saying a word the two younger mages gathered around Artur.

Helis reached up and tugged her hood down around her face as she took a deep breath and struggled not to show just how nervous she actually was. She could practically hear her heart beating more loudly as their hapless target approached. Helis had never done this before, hadn't even trained for it, she could only hope that things didn't go too badly.

It was around then that their target, a sort of tan-gray bird-headed monster with spectacles, seemed to notice them. Immediately he froze, his body going tense and rigid as light gleamed off his glasses. Helis couldn't blame him for being scared, she would be too if she suddenly ran into strangers in a dark alley-way like this.

Helis concentrated and surged her magic to teleport as the target turned to run. The world flashed green and her perspective suddenly shifted. Suddenly the man that had turned to flee a second earlier was skidding to a halt right in front of her. His eyes widened with panic as he realized what he was seeing.

With a loud pant, the man surged forward again. Helis stiffened and threw her arms out to brace herself, as the the bird-man crashed past her and sent her toppling to the ground. On instinct, she reached out and sunk her fingers into the fleeing bird-man's pant leg. Her small body was painfully scraped along the cold dirty pavement as the target tried to break away, but the monster's pace was all but stopped despite his efforts.

In the midst of the struggle, shadows began to dance along the walls as a half dozen figures that looked like spiny black monkeys made of fire exploded into view. The creatures let out a series of wild screeches that sounded like a fork running along a glass window, as they scurried about and surrounded the two people on the ground.

Helis scrambled backward on her hands and feet, as Nigel's creatures began slowly herding the bird-man up against the nearest wall. She knew that weak elementals like these could only follow orders, and wouldn't attack her unless directed to. Still, being surrounded by so many beasts with long pointy teeth, and dark soulless orbs for eyes, was upsetting to say the very least.

"Well, mission accomplished," said Artur with a pleased grin as he strode up towards the creatures, "and good save Sting!"

"Thanks boss!" Nigel beamed at the compliment as he walked beside Artur, "but I think I might choose a different name. Sting isn't very dignified."

"Ah, well let me know how that goes," Artur said with a sigh as he subtly rolled his eyes.

Wincing, and feeling somewhat perturbed, Helis picked herself up off the ground and carefully brushed herself off, doing her best to avoid the scrapes and cuts she'd just picked up. She knew it was childish, but she couldn't help resent not at least getting a thank you for her trouble.

"So, we have a guest I see!" Artur rubbed his hands together excitedly and approached the birdman as the pack of flaming beast's parted way. "Pardon me if I'm staring, this is actually the first time I've ever seen a monster up close."

"Uh, okay," the birdman muttered tensely as his eyes darted around in a vain attempt to see everything at once. "Why, are you doing this?!"

"Ah, a very good question," Artur slowly nodded as he said this. "To be honest, I really do understand, this must be distressing for you." Narrowing his eyes in thought, Artur stared off into the distance for a moment before letting out a quiet chuckle and looking back at his captive.

"Your people understand the appeal of freedom, right?" as he said this Artur reached out and clasped his hand atop the terrified man's shoulder, as if he were a close friend. The poor man nearly jumped out of his skin at the contact. "You were all trapped for a thousand years, but you never gave up on freedom. I rather admire all of you for that."

Artur smiled regretfully and slowly shook his head as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small black cylinder that was covered entirely with what looked like celtic knotwork.

"But, that that doesn't really answer your question now, does it." The object clicked with a flick of Artur's fingers and a long ivory white needle shot out from the tip with an audible spine-tingling snap of bone sliding against metal. "You see, you have something we need," as he said this Artur clamped his hand down hard on his victim's shoulder, holding him firmly in place as he brought the needle up towards his chest.

"Harvester," the birdman blurted the word out between panicked breaths as he stared in wide-eyed terror at the artifact. Artur froze and tilted his head in disbelief as he stared at the man pinned to the wall.

"You know about these!?" Artur asked incredulously as he emphasized the object with a motion of his wrist.

Helis lifted her eyebrows in surprise. As far as she knew, not only had harvesters not been used in over a thousand years, but there shouldn't be more than a few intact one's left anywhere. There used to be more of course. Harvesting core magic and selling it to humans had been one of monster-kind's most valuable exports. After all, a single dose of core magic could turn an ordinary person into a magic user. For apprentices like themselves, it'd both instantly speed up their development, and boost their total magical potential. Understandably however, monsters were reluctant to sell Harvesters to humans.

"Please, it won't work!" the birdlike monster pleaded shakily as he began to sob, "humans can't use-"

Artur's hand snapped around the monster's neck in a blur, choking off his words as he lifted the man clear off the ground. Helis jerked in alarm and stared wide-eyed at her leader in shock. She knew Artur could use magic to make himself stronger as well, but she hadn't expected this outburst.

"I know, this is very scary for you!" Artur said the words calmly as he brought the needle up to the struggling monsters chest. He ignored the monster's fists and they pounded and clawed at his arm uselessly. "But you'll be fine, I promise!"

"Boss," Helis said with a frightened quaver, "maybe we sho-"

Without waiting, Artur swiftly pushed the needle hilt deep into the man's chest, piercing him like an over-ripe fruit. The man convulsed as the needle sunk into him and he let out a shuddering gasp of pain as his eyes rolled back into his skull. Suddenly his body seemed to sink in upon itself and lose all color, becoming an ash white statue for a split second before crumbling to dust beneath Artur's fingers and falling to the ground in a heap, along with the monsters empty clothes.

For a long moment, no one in the alley muttered a word. Helis opened her mouth, but couldn't even begin to think of what to say. She felt cold, her mind had gone numb, and everything seemed to be swaying around her.

"It didn't work then?" Nigel asked in a tight curt manner, sounding more like a kid that hadn't found the prize in a cereal box, than somebody that had just witnessed a murder.

"No, no I'm afraid it didn't," Artur sighed sadly as he bent down and examined the monster's dust. "I guess we're just going to have to try again."

"Thought so," Nigel added in the same tone as earlier as he turned and stormed off.

Overwhelmed, Helis took a few steps towards the opposite wall and leaned forward, resting her hands against it as she waited for the world the stop spinning.


	12. Chapter 12

Undertale: Long Road

By: Nathan Weaver

Chapter 12

* * *

"C'mon," Sans pleaded, holding out the grimy, fist-sized chunk of bread in front of his kid brother, as a throng of monsters made their way up and down the nearby street. "Pap, you've gotta eat!"

The younger brother took another look at the food and whimpered in disgust as he pushed it away with his tiny hands. Abruptly Papyrus grabbed ahold of Sans ratty sweatshirt and pulled himself tightly against his brother.

"No," Papyrus complained in a childlike whine as Sans tried to make him comfortable, though there was only so much he could do sitting on a street corner. "please, it's gross!"

Sans sighed and looked down at the bread illuminated by the dirty orange light of New Home's street lamps. In addition to being crushed and dirty, it was actually covered by bluish gray streaks of mold, a rarity given that monster food wasn't supposed to spoil.

"I'm, I'm sorry little bro," Sans said softly as he gently patted papyrus' back with his free hand, "It's all I could find!" As if on queue he felt his own stomach rumble loudly, reminding him once again that he hadn't eaten anything himself in far too long.

I can't keep doing this, Sans thought in despair as his shoulders slumped. He couldn't help thinking back to his mom, and the promise he'd made to take care of his little brother. But, at this rate, he wasn't even going to be able to take care of himself.

"Child," came an unsteady deep warbling voice from the direction of the street. Sans looked up to see an incredibly lanky adult skeleton staring at him with a concerned expression. The man visibly grimaced as his gaze settled on the bread Sans was holding. "Please, tell me you are not going to eat that?"

The man was very difficult to understand and made these strange little motions with his hands. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Sans had the strangest sense that he already knew what those motions meant, but he couldn't seem to hold onto that thought.

"What?" Sans asked in a confused tone as he slowly raised a brow, "could you say that again mister?"

"Ah, of course," the strange man looked down at his hands briefly before blowing out a breath letting them fall to the side. Opening his mouth again, he seemed to take the time to pronounce his words very carefully. "You two can't eat that," he said as he looked at the moldy hunk of bread and visibly shuddered.

"Well, we've gotta eat something mister," said Sans with a shrug as he gestured his head toward his brother who was still busy clinging to his shirt and cringing away from the stranger. "It's just, well you know, people aren't giving out as much these days."

"Yes, these times are tough," the man answered as he looked back and forth at the two children and frowned, "do you two have any place you can go?"

"I don't have any family," Sans said with a shrug, "except my bro here."

"I see," the tall skeleton muttered as he trailed off, his eyes slowly shifting back and forth in thought for a long moment before he finally seemed to reach some sort of conclusion. "Very well," the man kneeled down slightly and extended a hand towards Sans, "Come with me child, I'll make sure the two of you are fed for the night."

Sans stared at the stranger open-mouthed for a long moment, before slowly reaching up and reluctantly taking his hand.

"Alright," Sans said with a grunt as he slowly worked his way to his feet, despite his brother's insistence on clinging onto him. "But no funny business okay, I'm tougher than I look!"

"I wouldn't dream of it, child," the strange man said with a soft amused smile as he finished pulling Sans to his feet.

"And cut it with the child bit," Sans replied grumpily as he started following behind the stranger, leading Papyrus by hand, "I'm almost fourteen already!"

"Truly!?" the stranger turned and eyed Sans incredulously as he walked.

"Yeah I know," Sans said grumpily, "I'm short for my age, you don't need to remind me!"

"Apologies my boy," the man looked back ahead and shook his head with a chuckle. "Nothing some proper nutrition can't fix. I hope you two enjoy spaghetti."

"Sure thing," Sans replied uncertainly. He wasn't actually certain he'd ever had spaghetti before. "So, the name's Sans, what's yours?"

"Wing," the stranger answered casually, without any sort of pomp or fanfare, "Dr. Wing Din Gaster."

"Now," Dr. Gaster asked formally as he strode down the sterile lab hallway in his white lab coat, his echoing off the walls, "tell me how progress on The Eye is coming along."

Sans paused and looked around at his surroundings in confusion for a half moment before moving his short legs double-time to catch the doctor. The walls were blue and the floors were dark tile. He didn't even have to think to identify this as the research lab where he and Gaster had worked together for ages. He could have sworn he was somewhere else just a moment ago, but of course, that was just crazy talk.

"Well, we're not getting anymore Rip Van Winkle cases at least!" Sans said with a shrug as he looked down and double checked something on his clipboard."But, it looks like we'll have to settle for a lot shorter probability feed than we were initially hoping for. It seems the average mind can only handle about six seconds of visual-precognition before calling it a night. Though, a stronger mind might be able to handle more."

"That's really not bad, a trained warrior can do a lot in seconds," Gaster said with an encouraging smile as he signed the words. "Are we ready to field test the prototype? A young woman trained by Asgore is down an eye, and she could use a replacement."

"Soon, I think," he quietly sighed and scratched the back of his head nervously as he gave his answer. He knew what the boss would think of it, but still. "I'd like to do a few more tests first, and make certain there aren't any negative health effects."

"Again you worry," Gaster smiled and shook his head without breaking his stride, "my boy, you're quite brilliant. I'm sure you can fix any complications that may arise."

"I'm flattered that you think that Doc, really," Sans sighed and closed his eyes to sort through his thoughts. Was he being too cautious? He respected the Gaster, heck he practically loved the guy, but he still couldn't help feeling like he was a bit reckless sometimes. "If it's all the same to you, I'd feel better if we did things my way on this one."

"Very well," Gaster said with an exaggerated shrug as he turned and swiftly walked into the adjoining room, without waiting for the automatic doors to fully open. "It's your project, you may run it as you wish."

Sans followed Gaster through the automatic door, into Skybridge Control. A large expansive room with a spacious ceiling; Skybridge Control was filled with about a dozen people in lab coats, and had several rows of industrial style computer consoles.

Sans glanced up across the room, at the control center's namesake. The Skybridge itself was a strange, twisting rip in space that always seemed to be slowly changing color and shape in intricate, headache-inducing ways. It was positioned at the center of the far wall, surrounded by a metal ring-like structure that actively kept it open.

Sans forced himself not to look into the black empty depths at the center of the bridge for too long. It was a habit everyone working on this project had quickly developed. With the exception of Gaster, everyone seemed to be filled with a sense of unease if their gaze lingered on the rip in space for too long. It was so bad that if Sans had his way, they'd have closed this thing and kept it closed. At least, until they had built some sort of emergency drop-down containment wall or something.

"You do remember that this thing was supposed to take us to the surface, right?" Sans asked sardonically as he nervously eyed the wormhole. "Whatever's on the other side of that thing right now, pretty sure it isn't the surface."

"Yes, so you've told me," Gaster replied absently as he leaned over a worker at his console, to read something off his screen, "but this is so much more interesting, don't you think?"

"If you say so," Sans sighed and began to turn to look back to look at the Skybridge when he thought he caught a flash of green and yellow out of the corner of one eye. On impulse, he turned his head towards the direction of the door and blinked in confusion when he saw that nobody was there. It seemed strange that nobody was there, he really had the sense that there should be.

"Are you alright, my boy?" Gaster asked in a concerned tone from behind Sans, "you seem a bit, unfocused today."

"I'm fine," Sans hastily replied as he turned back around and glanced up at the bridge with a quick shake of his head. "It's probably just being near that thing, I swear, it feels like something is looking out at us from inside it!"

"That seems very unlikely," said Gaster with a quiet chuckle as he walked up to an empty computer console and bent over to hit a few keys. "Still, if there is life in the void, we'll found out today."

As if on cue, pneumatic motors loudly whined into life as something that looked a lot like a harpoon gun slowly began to lower itself from the ceiling. The machine only stopped lowering once its projectile probe was pointed directly at the center of the wormhole. The cotton-swab shaped probe had lights, a camera, and an array of instruments all mounted at one end. It actually looked a bit clumsy to Sans, but it was really quite sophisticated.

"Mr. Rams," Gaster called out in an official manner as he stood straight and looked around the room, "Rams, is the probe entirely prepared?"

"Yes, ready to go, sir!" Rams said eagerly, as he popped up from his console the next row in and nearly knocked over his coworker's mug. Mr. Rams was a somewhat catlike monster with long limbs, blue fur, and triangular ears that always seemed to be angled towards the back of his head. Sans honestly didn't really like him much, he always came off as a bit of a brown noser.

"Very well, everyone to your places," Gaster said in a loud formal voice as he looked around to address the people in the room. "I would like to begin today's experiment immediately!"

A bustle of activity overtook the room for the next few minutes, as the two canine guards left the bridge room, and the remaining scientists busied themselves with the final preparations. Despite how off-putting that ragged hole into an unknown void was, Sans could feel a certain level excitement building in the room. Most of the people here truly believed that this project would free everyone someday. Sans wouldn't allow himself to be that optimistic, but he was a bit curious at least.

"Well, ready or not I guess," Sans said with a shrug as he leaned against the side of a console at the back of the center aisle between all rows of workstations. Once more he glanced up at the harpoon-like probe above him and then stared into the bridge.

"Well, good luck doc," Sans said in almost a whisper as he peered over his right shoulder and looked at Gaster, "I really do hope you're right about this."

"Disabling bridge shield now," Rams called out in an uninflected business-like tone from his workstation as a blue shimmer flickered in-and-out of existence around the gate. As the shield disappeared, a weak draft could be felt as the air was pulled through the bridge into the partial vacuum of the void.

"Initiating countdown,"Rams added as he could be heard striking a few buttons on his keyboard. Green glowing letters flickered into view on several CRT monitors in unoccupied workstations and began counting down from fifteen.

"It'll be fine, my boy," Gaster replied quietly, signing the words as he spoke without taking his eye's off the bridge, "you really do worry too much."

"Firing probe," Rams continued, "in 5, 4, 3, 2…"

With a booming whoosh of pressurized air, the long narrow probe was sent flying. It blurred and disappeared through the bridge in a blink. The only sign that there had even been a probe was the steel tether that stretched taut across the room and attached to the winch at the base of the launcher.

"The probe has successfully entered the unknown region," Rams continued in that same monotonous manner that was actually starting to grate on Sans a bit. "Stable info link confirmed."

"Excellent, turn on the camera," Gaster ordered with a pleased smile before he turned to Sans and quietly added, "let's finally see what we're dealing with, shall we?"

The monitors at several consoles, including the one Sans and Gaster were standing next to, abruptly flickered and went black, appearing to die. At least Sans had assumed they died until he noticed the timestamp on the bottom corner of the screen.

"Whoa, did somebody leave the lens cap on?!" Sans asked incredulously as he looked up from the screen, "you did check the probe before we started, right?"

"Yes, I did," Rams answered defensively, scowling as he typed away furiously at his keyboard, "and the camera doesn't even have a lens cap!"

Sans scratched the back of his skull and narrowed his eye's in thought as he digested that. If the camera was working correctly and we still couldn't see anything despite the spotlight, did that mean the void really devoured light? Some of their early experiments had suggested that might be the case, but Sans hadn't really believed it.

"What about the radar?" Gaster asked softly while appearing to maintain an outwardly calm appearance. Though Sans did take notice that the doctor began signing more quickly and with less care, which was a sure sign that he was flustered.

"I already have it up on my screen," a female monster added from the next row down before Rams could answer, "It's not showing anything." Sans craned his neck to get a look at the look at the radar display when the video feed on the screen he was next to was replaced with a circular green display.

Indeed there wasn't anything to see out there. The quickly rotating line on the circular display only showed one green blip, and that was the bridge itself, or rather everything on their side of the bridge. When the line came around again, another green blip showed up on the very edge of the radar's range, at the opposite of the direction of the bridge.

"We're getting something now," said the same female monster from before, "blip at twelve o'clock."

As Sans watched the screen, his eyes slowly grew wide as the green blip at the top of the display moved closer to the probe and grew much much larger. It was as if somebody had spilled a bottle of glowing ink on the display. It just kept dribbling down covering more and more of the screen.

What they had seen at first had to have been the edge of an immense object as it moved into the radar's effective range. Sans wasn't really used to reading these things, but, it looked to him as if that thing was more than a kilometer wide at the very least, and it was moving towards the probe fast!

"Just how big is this thing?!" Rams chimed in a nervous croak, echoing Sans thoughts as he stared at his own monitor.

"Big enough," Gaster replied tersely, clearly struggling to maintain a calm appearance despite his many nervous glances at the screen. "Keep recording data, but reel in that probe. We can't risk losing it!"

Before anyone could respond, Reality violently lurched to the side, causing everything in the room to topple and shake. Sans found himself grabbing onto the console as if his life depended on it, while a couple of the other scientists violently fell from their seats. Before Sans could get his bearings, the entire room suddenly went pitch black, as everything electronic in the room suddenly died.

"Is everyone okay?" Gaster called out in a loud rattled tone from somewhere nearby, though Sans hadn't the foggiest where that was exactly.

As people answered, or simply groaned in a few cases, a faint red light began to glow from each of the computer screens. Sans looked towards the nearest source of light and saw simple red text slowly appearing on the computer console he'd just impulsively grabbed onto.

"Long ago, two races ruled over Earth: humans and monsters." Sans stared in confusion as he read the words.

"Hey is anyone else here reading this?" an unseen person asked in a loud stressed voice. Looking away from the screen for a moment, Sans could see faint outlines of people through the dim red light, as they gathered around other monitors.

"What is this Sans?" the skeleton nearly jumped as he felt Gaster's hand lightly fall onto his shoulder.

"Oh, uh I don't know doc," Sans replied and let out a relieved breath as he forced himself to calm down, "the computers are all acting bizarre!"

"One day, war broke out between the two races." Sans scratched his head and tried to figure out where this text had come from. This had to be from a file on the lab's database, but, this didn't look like anything you'd find at a research facility. He began to open his mouth to ask if anyone recognized the text, but before he could ask the room lurched again.

Once more Sans wrapped his arms around the console tightly as Gaster held onto him for support. As the room rocked, every monitor in the room flickered at once and turned entirely red, filling the room with crimson light.

Sans felt his fingers digging hard into the plastic of the computer console, even after the world stopped moving beneath his feet. He took a deep breath and tried to force himself to calm down, but he couldn't help feeling like something terrible was closing in on him.

The sound of approaching whispers tore Sans from the thought. Suddenly it was as if he was surrounded by an unseen legion, softly muttering poisonous truths all around him; it was almost deafening.

A high-pitched scream echoed through the room, drowning out everything else. Without thinking Sans turned, looking around the room until he caught sight of something shapeless and wrong crawling up along the tether anchoring the probe to the underground.

The amorphous thing was dark and shined a deep red in the crimson light. Somehow it moved like both smoke and liquid, oozing and billowing it's way along the cable as if it was devouring it.

Looking back at the gash-in-reality, Sans could see that the creature coated the length of the cable in a solid uninterrupted line. However, at the base of the cable where the two realities met, innumerable smoke-like tendrils grasped about wildly; as if they were all trying to force their way into this world at once.

Somewhere someone could be heard sobbing on the floor, as other scientists wailed hysterically. Sans wasn't immune to the fear. He barely fought back the animal panic as he wordlessly grabbed ahold of Gaster with trembling hands. The doctor jerked and briefly struggled as Sans guided him towards the exit, but coopered once he realized who was guiding him.

Not waiting for the automatic-sensor, Sans stepped up to the exit and slammed his palm down onto the button to open the door. When the exit failed to open he inhaled sharply and pressed the button again and again, but the door wouldn't so much as budge.

"No, no no!" Sans heard himself repeating the words without realizing the frightened voice he heard was his own. All he could really think about at that moment was getting out, about getting the doctor and himself to safety. In the back of his mind a more detached analytical part of his psyche reasoned that if he could get out, he could inform the guards. If that happened they could gather the king's forces and descend on that creature at full strength. However, that voice could hardly be heard over his panic.

"My boy," Gaster called out unsteadily, slurring the words slightly as he grabbed ahold of Sans' free arm, "something is happening with that thing!"

Sans turned to see that that thing was gathering all of its amorphous mass into a single growing sphere near the center of the room. Within seconds the globe swelled at least a couple meters wide and showed no sign of slowing as it pulled in all of the smokey sludge that had recently coated the tether.

As Sans watched, a multitude of long slits formed along the surface of the creature which opened to reveal dozens upon dozens of incandescent purple alien-eyes. Immediately, each and every eye began to twitch and jerk around in different directions independently from another.

As this went on, Sans heard those incessant whispers suddenly grow louder and more shrill. Almost at once, everyone in the room let out a loud moan and clutched their ears in a futile attempt at shutting out the terrible noise.

Sans gritted his teeth and grabbed the sides of his skull, as bizarre words and images poured into his mind. He saw strange symbols, objects that reminded him of chess pieces, and was filled the vague notion that he had just been asked a question. He gasped as the strange visions assaulting his mind cut out. It had only lasted for a second or two, but even in that instant, it had been overwhelming.

Sans looked up to see the creature staring at him with its many bulging eyes. He stood locked in place, staring back as the things round body began to quiver and pull its eye's back into its body with a quick succession of slick wet noises. Then it suddenly shot forward through the air with a hiss, billowing like a blurring tendril of smoke as it raced towards Sans.

Time seemed to come to a crawl for Sans. He stood frozen as the creature flew towards him. If he had a heart he knew each beat would slowly be pounding in his chest like a drum. He could see his hands slowly coming up palms out to block the attack, but part of him knew it wouldn't do any good. Nothing he did would even slow this thing down.

"No-!" Sans barely recognized Gaster's voice as the older man bowled into him, sending him toppling to the floor as Gaster stepped into his place.

Turning, Sans only caught a glimpse of his mentor's panicked wide-eyed face, before the creature slammed him against the closed doorway. The smoke-like ooze coiled around Gaster's body like a liquid snake, engulfing him faster than Sans would have believed possible. The scientist opened his mouth and let out a hoarse scream, but was immediately cut off as the oily creature let out a wet squelch and forced it's way down the doctor's throat.

Sans scrambled towards the doctor on his hands and feet, desperate to help. But as he reached out his hand a smoky tendril slammed into him with a whiplike snap, sending him tumbling across the ground with a loud clatter as his bones struck tile.

Weakly, Sans lifted his face from the floor to see Gaster choking and desperately clawing at his face as the creature rapidly forced its way into him.

"Somebody, please," Sans croaked out weakly as he tried and failed to push himself up from the floor, "please, somebody help him!"

Breathing heavily, Sans looked around and silently pleaded for help; but none of the people pressed into corners or hiding beneath desks stepped forward. Shuddering in fear, he looked up helplessly as the last vestiges of the creature disappeared down Gaster's throat.

Immediately the doctor coughed violently and doubled over as dark, wet flecks sprayed from his mouth. As he heaved, more and more black globules noisily splattered to the ground and across his lab-coat. It seemed as if buckets of thin tar was erupting from his mouth. With every cough, the doctor and everything around him was being covered in more oil.

Sans could only watch in horror as the black tar seemed to wrap itself around Gaster, almost as if it was infusing itself into him. Soon, the same oily blackness began to drip from the doctor's eye sockets as well. One trickle of tar flowed down like you would expect, but the other flowed up and around his skull unnaturally. As all this happened, Gaster's bones seemed to melt and fuse together. His nose hole vanished, one eye socket drooped, and the other seemed to grow more cavernous.

In all, Sans barely recognized the doctor's new face. It hardly looked like a skull at all, and now more resembled some sort of warped ceramic mask.

"Doc," Sans croaked weakly as he finally worked his way back to his feet and shook off the accompanying dizziness. He took a deep breath and steeled himself as he took another step forward. "Please old man, are you still you in there?"

The creature that had once been Gaster stared up at Sans with glowing purple socket-lights and smiled with an evil grin that reached from ear to ear.

* * *

I squeaked in alarm and let out a groaning huff of breath as my back slammed against the floor in Sans bedroom. Sitting there in a daze, I blinked slowly as I stared up at the ceiling. I couldn't help feeling just a bit grateful that nobody had actually seen that.

"Way to stick that landing Chara," I muttered to myself miserably as I grabbed the edge of Sans bed and slowly pulled myself up with an effort. I'd gotten pretty good at jumping into people's dreams and not being noticed. But, embarrassingly I always seemed to land on my butt whenever I exited a dream. I'd have to work on that some more.

Noticing a strange blue light, I glanced towards Sans and tensed in alarm as I saw the skeleton sitting upright in bed. His breath came wildly as he looked frantically around the room. But, what really caught my attention was that his left eye-light had grown into a huge blue circle within his socket, and billowed with a fiery blue flame.

"Who's there?" Sans asked in a cold, dangerous tone as his eye's locked in on where I was sitting, "you can't hide from me, show yourself!"

He kept staring for a long wordless moment, his breath coming in long heavy huffs as cars could be faintly heard on the distant highway. Finally, he groaned to himself and let out a frustrated breath as he looked away and let his left eye shrink back to its normal white pinpoint of light.

"I must be going crazy," Sans muttered angrily to himself as he leaned forward and cradled his skull between his hands. I watched as Sans took another long breath and slowly let it out. His shoulders shook visibly as he uttered something unintelligible between shuddering breaths.

"Uh, wow," I said uncomfortably as I stood, "you've seen some messed up stuff, haven't you old man?" Sans didn't say anything in response. That thing he did with the eye may or may not have allowed him to sense me, but if it did it certainly hadn't lasted.

"Well, I wish I could tell you that I'm sorry," I shrugged nonchalantly and sighed as I turned to leave. I paused after only a step, this whole thing just felt unfinished. I felt like I should turn around and say something, but even if he could hear me what was I supposed to say?

I truly didn't feel sorry for Sans. It bothered me that I wasn't sorry, but that was more because I knew I should be. Frisk would feel horrible for this guy, and the old Asriel certainly would as well. Though, if I being honest with myself, I wasn't sure the old me would have been all that sorry either. I was a pretty messed up kid after all.

"I guess I'll catch you later then," I called back awkwardly as I carefully stepped around around the half open door, "well, uh, goodnight."

I briefly raised my hand to wave back before I caught myself. What was I doing right here exactly? I needed to find a better hobby, instead of pretending like I could still interact with people.

With a sigh, I went off to find somewhere comfortable to spend the night and left the skeleton alone.


	13. Chapter 13

Undertale: Long Road

By: Nathan Weaver

Chapter 13

* * *

"Alphys, I'm sorry but I really, REALLY, can't talk right now!" Frisk quietly said into the phone as she tried not to look over the corner booth table at Monster Kid. She could somehow tell he was scowling, so he must have guessed that she was talking about Flowey. Given what happened yesterday, inviting him to lunch at Grillby's with Uncle Sans, Papyrus, and herself, had seemed like a good way to make things up to him. It probably really would have been too, but Alphys calling in the middle of everything wasn't helping.

"I know, I caught you at a bad time," Alphys paused to take a deep breath and calm herself before continuing, "but you just can't let Flowey go off his medicine; it could be dangerous for him!"

"I know, you already said that," Frisk quietly sighed in frustration and unconsciously began loudly tapping her fingers on the table in frustration as she thought about what to say next.

"Uh, kiddo?" Sans chimed in softly, practically mouthing the words as he casually leaned over and gestured down towards her hand, "you good?" Looking down Frisk saw what she was doing and blushed as she quickly sat her hand on her lap.

"It's okay," Frisk mouthed back silently as she glanced around the table. Even Papyrus was giving her a concerned look, and MK looked even less happy than she'd imagined. She took second to calm down and forced a smile onto her face before looking around the table one last time. She really didn't want to make people worry about her.

"Look, I'm really sorry," Frisk said as she did her best to sound casual, "I know what Flowey is doing to himself is bad, but I don't know what I'm supposed to do about it. I can't force him to do anything he doesn't want to."

"Well, I don't know, maybe you could put it in his food or something?" Alphys asked awkwardly before trailing off in a nervous chuckle.

"I don't think that'd actually work," Frisk answered as she furrowed her brows in thought, "he'd probably notice."

"Yeah, probably," Alphys said, sounding defeated, "but please try to think of something, though. If he gets hurt because of this, well, I just don't want it to happen okay!"

"I'll try talking to him again," Frisk said as she reached up and scratched the back of her neck. She really wasn't sure she could talk sense into him given how strongly he'd reacted. "Hopefully I can get through to him this time."

"Well, I'm sure you'll manage it," Alphys encouraged, though it sounded more like she was trying to reassure herself. "I'll let you get back to your lunch."

"Thank you Alphys," Frisk said the words with a guilty frown, unable to shake the suspicion that she was blowing off her friend. "Don't worry, I'm sure that it'll work out." Frisk ended the call after another round of quick pleasantries and slowly placed the phone down on the table.

"Frisk did I just see you, frown?!" Papyrus asked as he raised a single brow. He emphasized the f-word as if it was a heinous crime and waved an admonishing finger in the air. "My tiny human friend, frowns are not allowed, not in my city. Why you are in direct violation of the first law of Papyrus!" Even if she'd tried, Frisk couldn't have stopped her lips from slowly curling up into a big grin.

"Guilty as charged," Frisk said with a restrained laugh as she spread her hands in surrender. "I'm sorry, I just got a little sidetracked."

"Yeah, what else is new," Monster Kid said, grumbling almost inaudibly beneath his breath as he furrowed his brows in frustration and stared down into his lap. The words came out so quietly that Frisk wondered if MK had even realized he'd said anything.

"Now now, don't be like that young Monster," Papyrus said warmly as he leaned over and laid a friendly hand on MK's shoulder. "I know you've had a rough time, but Frisk seems to be having her own roughness as well!"

"Yea Kid," Sans stopped watching the nearby ceiling mounted television for a moment to chime in, then chuckled at his unintended pun. "I don't know what's up and all, but try to cut her some slack, okay?"

"Oooh no," Frisk interrupted with mock severity as she narrowed her eyes and glared at her uncles. "I've been a terrible friend lately! Don't you dare to defend me on this!" As she said this, Papyrus looked across the table his older brother with a confused expression, while Sans' just grinned and shrugged.

"No, you're a great friend," MK said with a sigh as he slowly looked up at Frisk and took a deep breath. "You're fun, smart, and patient, you're really great. It's just that stupid flower!"

"Oh, I see," Papyrus frowned and looked back and forth between Frisk and MK as he spoke, "did Flowey have another one of his cranky little episodes again?"

"Yea, kinda," Frisk answered reluctantly as she held up a hand and pinched two fingers together, "he said some pretty bad things." She really didn't want to make it sound like this wasn't a big deal, but it wasn't like he hadn't done worse.

"And none of them are true!" Papyrus boldly declared as he pointed a finger high into the air, "absolutely none, do you hear me my scaled little friend!?"

"Well yeah," MK replied a bit uncertainly as his eyes drifted towards his lap, "I guess."

"No guessing, let the power of my affection compel you!" suddenly Papyrus turned and clasped the sides of MK's face within his gloved hands. This made the kids yellow cheeks bulge out comically as he stared Papyrus in the face. "Listen close and repeat every word I say!"

*You're not exactly big on the personal boundaries thing, are you?

"Uh, kay," MK answered with a garbled slur.

"I, am, great!" Papyrus pumped both his fists high into the air as he enunciated each word.

"I'm great," Monster Kid answered quietly as his eyes shifted from side to side.

"No no, not like that!" Papyrus chided as he shook a disapproving finger. "Remember that I am very great, and you are my friend, so you too must be great! So say it and believe it, I am great!"

"I am great!" MK repeated more loudly this time, and with a bit more confidence.

"Louder!" Papyrus encouraged as he pumped both fists excitedly.

"I AM GREAT!"

"YES, PERFECT!" with a flurry of motion Papyrus suddenly stood with one foot planted firmly on the table, as his voice carried clearly through the building. For the most part, the restaurant goers ignored all this. This was pretty standard behavior for the skeleton.

"Uh, bro?" Sans asked with an arched brow as he glanced around at the few people that weren't ignoring this, "are you sure you wanna-"

"Never listen to the naysayers my friend!" Papyrus continued obliviously, cutting off his brother.

"Oh, okay then," Sans shrugged at that and sank back into his seat.

"Yes, for the great Papyrus reeks of honesty!" Papyrus proclaimed boldly as he proudly thrust out his chest. "So, believe me when I tell you, you will do truly great things!"

"Like what?" MK asked quizzically as he looked at the empty spots where his arms would have been had he been born with them. "I mean without, you know, what great things am I ever going to do!?"

"Whatever you want! Papyrus stated boldly and slipped back down into his seat in a smooth seamless motion, "If you're determined, missing two or three limbs won't stop you!"

"Well yeah, it isn't always easy, but that's about the sum of it," Sans said with a chuckle as he shrugged and sat down his phone. "Look at Frisk, she's an ordinary kid in most ways, but look where her determination got her. She made friends with practically everyone underground, earned herself a fantastic new mom, and freed an entire civilization, somehow." Sans said the last words with some uncertainty. He didn't actually know how the barrier had been broken, but he wasn't the only one to assume that Frisk had something to do with it.

"That last one really wasn't me, Uncle Sans," Frisk said as she stared at the floor uneasily. She really didn't like it when people praised her for breaking the barrier and freeing everyone. That was Asriel's doing. He deserved the credit, not her. Not that she could tell anyone that; she'd probably told too many people already.

"Regardless, if you set your mind to it, you can do anything!" Papyrus said loudly as he turned and pointed directly between Monster Kids eyes.

"Well, I guess," Monster Kid said as he forced himself to stop staring cross-eyed at the skeletons finger, "but, I still don't know what I'm really supposed to do."

"My little friend," Papyrus said with a knowing grin as he looked down at Monster Kid and gestured towards Frisk with a tilt of his head. "Isn't there already something you want to do? Something you've wanted to ask to a certain someone?"

*Oh you filthy shipper you!

Frisk blinked in confusion as Monster Kid looked her and blushed deeply. She sighed and reached up to scratch the back of her head in thought. She really wished she knew why MK kept getting weird like this. For that matter, she was kinda curious what in the world Uncle Papyrus was actually talking about.

As luck would have it, the waitress Denise showed up around that moment with everyone's food and a large picture for Papyrus to autograph.

Uncle Sans ordered a burger and fries, with lettuce, tomato, and plenty of extra ketchup; as in a whole extra bottle just for himself.

Not surprising anyone, Papyrus ordered a towering plate full of spaghetti. The skeleton's love for the dish had actually become fairly well known over the past year, due to his celebrity status. What most people didn't realize, was that his actual favorite dish was a very specific type of oatmeal. Grillby's however, didn't carry it.

Monster Kid on the other hand, had ordered a tall strawberry milkshake. Frisk knew that wasn't exactly a healthy food, but MK preferred foods that he didn't need help eating when he was out. She supposed she couldn't really blame him for that.

As for herself, Frisk ordered a meatless mushroom cheesesteak and fries. After making so many friends that looked like a bit like one sort of animal or another, the idea of eating meat had lost a lot of its appeal. Not that she was a strict vegetarian, but she avoided it when she could.

The next several minutes were spent in relative quiet as everyone concentrated on their meals. It wasn't until Monster Kid had slowly drunk down the first half of his milkshake that he peered up from his meal and looked across the table at Frisk.

"Yo, Frisk?" Monster Kid asked unsteadily as he blushed and struggled to maintain eye contact. "I was just wondering, would you like to go and do something later this week?"

"Go and do something how?" Frisk asked with a confused tilt of her head as reached over and grabbed her glass of water. Something about the way he'd asked seemed to suggest that he didn't mean hanging out like they normally did.

"Kiddo," Sans piped in a pleased tone as his eye-lights danced in amusement, "I think your little buddy's asking you out on a date!" Frisk choked and nearly spat out the water she'd just been drinking.

"A date?!" Frisk asked in disbelief as she gasped for breath, "but we're just kids!"

"Didn't stop you before!" Sans said quietly as the grin on his face somehow managed to grow wider. Frisk frowned at that and narrowed her eyes at her uncle. She'd had an innocent little play-date with Papyrus back when they'd all met, and she was certain she was never going to live it down. She supposed that's what she got for listening to that mystery voice's suggestions so many times.

*Oh no you don't, you can't blame that one on me!

"That was different!" Frisk protested as loudly as whispering would allow before looking back to MK. She couldn't help but notice just how terrified he looked at that moment. It must have taken him a lot of courage to ask like that. With that in mind, she gave it one last thought before taking a deep breath and steeling herself for what she was about to say.

"Alright, I'll go," said Frisk with a nervous smile as she threw her hands up in surrender, "but this is just a play-date. We're just kids, ya know?"

"Oh, yeah sure," MK smiled and let out a big relieved breath as he vigorously nodded in agreement, "I'm just happy you said yes!" As he said this, MK's eye's somehow managed to grow so wide and excited that they practically shimmered. Frisk couldn't help wondering just how long he'd been building this up. It had to have been a while, but seeing as she hadn't noticed what did that say about her?

"Hoi!" hollered a nearby monster in the midst of a growing commotion within the diner, "Turn dat thing up!"

Frisk turned to see a small crowd of monsters forming at the nearest of the ceiling-mounted television sets. Looking around, Frisk saw that monsters were gathering in front of every television set they could find. Even the people that hadn't left their seats seemed to be craning their necks to see the screens.

Curious, Frisk looked up at the nearest television just as someone finished turning up the volume. On the screen, she could see news footage of a bunch of police cars blocking off an ordinary looking side street between buildings. A crisp, professional sounding female voice was well into the middle of the story before Frisk was able to make out what she was saying.

"-An anonymous tip led authorities to this isolated alleyway, where they found the remains of who the police believe to be, Avery Bookman, a monster and local librarian. While this station has not received official confirmation at this time; sources within the police department have informed us that they are treating this like a murder investigation.-"

"Oh, oh no!" Papyrus whimpered in distress as he turned to stare at his brother, "Sans this, this is the worst thing!"

"What's wrong?" Frisk asked uneasily as she looked back and forth at her uncles with a growing weight on her heart. This was horrible, but, she didn't understand why Papyrus specifically was taking this so hard. She couldn't remember him ever sounding this upset before.

"Avery, well he was one of our neighbors back in Snowdin," Sans answered in voice that suddenly made him seem, just so terribly tired and weary. "We weren't exactly close or anything but, in a small town like that you tend to know everybody."

"We were friends Sans!" Papyrus broke in angrily as he glared at his brother. "He always lent me books, and he even helped me with some of the difficult words! He was definitely a friend!"

"Yeah, you're right, he was," Sans said with a sigh before turning to look at Frisk and Monster Kid. "Well kids, I hate to cut this short but, I think we better get going."

"Yeah," Frisk said with a sigh as she looked up at the picture of the bird-headed librarian from Snowden being shown on the television, "I think you're right uncle Sans."

"This is just awkward!" I moaned out the words as mom and dad sat in their seats and did their best to ignore each other as I sat on the floor between them.

* * *

After attaching myself to dad, I popped in only to find that the two monsters were waiting around in some politicians richly decorated private office. It was nice enough I suppose. The furniture seemed like expensive heavy dark wood, and the room itself was clean and spacious. However, if I wasn't already dead, waiting for something to actually happen would've killed me!

From what I'd heard, they were here to meet with that politician that wanted to put everyone into a preserve. As boring and awkward as this was, I was curious how that would go. Though, if I was being honest with myself, I was really just sticking around hoping that mom and dad would lose their temper and toast the guy. Yes, I knew it was unlikely, but a girl can dream.

Sighing, I slowly stood up and looked between Toriel and Asgore. I couldn't help wondering what they would think if they knew their poor deceased human child was currently watching them trying to beat each other to death with silence. I wanted to think that they'd at least be embarrassed. That sounded right at least, but when you're missing some emotions it's easy to guess wrong.

"I swear," Asgore said with a grunt in frustration as I turned to watch him pulling at the purple necktie of his suit, "human formal-wear is actually designed to be uncomfortable!"

"I think that is actually the point," Toriel said in a detached voice, as she flipped through the papers she was reading. "If they were comfortable, humans would wear them casually."

"Well, if you say so," Asgore responded uncomfortably as he slowly tilted his head from side to side in thought. "So, how's Frisk doing anyway?"

"She is fine," Toriel responded automatically, without any real thought.

"Good," Asgore smiled and gripped his interlocked fingers together nervously. This was already the third time I'd seen dad trying to strike up a conversation since I'd arrived, and each attempt had been more awkward than the last.

"Sweet merciful chocolate!" I said with a drawn out groan as I turned to look at each of my parents, "Just kiss already, this is painful!"

As luck would have it, it was at that moment that the senator opened the door and walked into the room; thus saving me from even more awkwardness!

"Sorry for keeping you waiting," the silver-haired man said with a practiced smile as he opened the door and leisurely strode into his office, "you two were comfortable, I hope." As he spoke, my parents and I all stood to greet the new arrival. Being old-fashioned, mom bent at the waist to give the senator a polite shallow bow. On the other hand, dad took a step forward to greet him more personally.

"Think nothing of it," Asgore said dismissively as he forced a smile onto his face and bent over to shake the senator's hand, "we weren't waiting long."

Looking the senator up and down, I could see that despite being an old guy he seemed very fit, and stood straight and tall. He was all sharp angles, chiseled features, and broad shoulders. His skin was light, his silver hair was cut short, and he had a full but well-trimmed goatee. Honestly, what really stood out to me was that, despite how polite he'd been so far, everything about him felt off. His movements, words, and even his expressions all seemed like a carefully orchestrated act somehow.

"So, no entourage today I see," Crier cracked a big showy smile as he circled around the monsters towards the chair behind his desk, "just you, the lovely miss Toriel, and-" Crier paused and narrowed his dark gray eyes in confusion as he stared directly where I stood.

"-hmm, interesting," Crier quietly muttered the words with a silent chuckle as he shook his head and sat in the chair behind his desk.

"Wait, what!?"

"What was that senator?" Toriel asked with a tilt of her head as she sat back in her chair.

"That's what I wanna know!" I said in a huff as I walked up to Crier's desk and leaned my hands against it. "Hey old man, can you actually see me!?"

"Oh, It's nothing," Crier casually waved off the question as he turned towards me and gave a quick shallow nod before looking back to my parents. I don't think my parents noticed, but seeing as I'd spent the last year effectively isolated, he might as well have shouted that he could see me. "Well, would either of you care for anything before we begin? A water, a beverage perhaps?"

"Oh hey, I want something!" the words came out dripping in sarcasm as I stood and glared at the old man, "how about you tell me how you can actually see me, I'd love that!"

"No, thank you," Asgore answered with a shake of his head as he adjusted his position in his seat, "if it's all the same to you, we'd like to get down to business."

As if on queue, Toriel leaned forward and handed a purple folder to the senator. As she did so, her entire arm passed cleanly through my semi-transparent body. I shuddered and quickly stumbled to the side as I felt the sensation. I couldn't even begin to describe how it felt when part of your body was pushed apart like an ntangible mist.

I cussed beneath my breath as I looked back up at the senator just in time to see him glancing at me with raised eyebrows. Before my parents could register the behavior, he shook his head and opened the folder to start going through its contents.

"Oh, so you're going to ignore me huh!" I said with an annoyed groan as I walked over and leaned against the wall nearest to Toriel. I was pretty sure this guy could see me, which was amazing seeing as Frisk could only hear me back during her trip through the underground. As exciting as that should be though, it wouldn't actually mean anything if he was going to pretend that I didn't exist.

I sat and patiently watched as the senator skimmed over the contents of the folder. It was really no wonder that I hadn't attached myself to mom or dad during one of these meetings before. If they were all like this, they were pretty boring.

"This is really quite generous," the senator said as he smiled and sat the folder down on the desk with a disbelieving shake of his head. "A majority stake in mining rights, unrestricted access to monster technology, the complete dissolution of the monarchy! This is practically everything my colleagues asked for!"

"Yes well, my people cannot afford for me to be picky any longer," Asgore said formally as he wrung his hands and furrowed his brows in restrained frustration. "Their new lives have been disrupted enough as it is."

"That's right," Toriel spoke formally, but I could hear a certain tight frustration in her voice as well. "Being guests rather than citizens puts our people into a very difficult situation, senator, we need to resolve it soon!"

"I understand, and I agree that the situation isn't fair for you or your people," Crier nodded his head and said the words slowly, sounding too genuine to actually be genuine. He paused for a moment and took one last look at the folder before closing it and slowly placing it on his desk. "With that being said, we all know that life isn't fair."

"You're rejecting our offer!?" Asgore said the words in clear disbelief as his gaze bounced between the folder and the senators face. "This is everything we can possibly offer!"

"This compromise is more like a complete cave-in, young man!" Toriel snapped as she held up a hand to cut her former husband off. "This is literally everything your colleagues asked for!"

"Yes, my colleagues," Crier said the words with a sneer as he shook his head and stood. "Let me be honest with you Ms. Toriel. I don't really care what the other senators on my side of the fence want. They can't even see beyond the next election cycle. No, I'm the head of the committee dealing with monsters, my decision is the only one that matters!

"Wow," I said with a roll of my eyes, "that's some ego you have there!"

"And you want us all living off in some fenced off preserve," Asgore said the words tightly as he squeezed his fists together harder, "you must really hate us!"

"No, why would I hate you?" Crier quickly looked at Asgore with a baffled expression before shaking his head and walking over to the wall of window panels that overlooked the city. "Your majesty, your people being here answers the question of whether we're alone in the universe. To be honest, learning you had all survived was one of the more exciting moments of my life."

"Why then?!" Asgore asked as he let out a heavy breath, though the tension in his voice was still obvious. "If you like us so much, why are you trying to imprison us again? Compared to mankind, our species is practically harmless!"

"We both know that isn't true, your majesty," Crier said as he turned away from the window and narrowed his eye's at Asgore. "Or are you seriously going to try telling me that you don't know what happens when a monster absorbs human souls?"

"How do you know about that!?" I blurted out the question without thinking as I stared open-mouthed at the senator. Almost every monster had agreed that they needed to keep that little piece of information a secret.

"You're very well informed. Only the President should know about that." Asgore said as he looked around the room nervously. "Still, a monster hasn't absorbed a human soul in over a thousand years. It's hardly a reason to put us into a prison!"

"Please, we both know there was an incident far more recent than that," as he said this, Crier quickly looked at me at gave me a smug knowing look. "Regardless, since a monster with seven human souls would be strong enough to wipe out humanity, you can't blame me for trying to keep us separate. Everyone would be safer for it, monsters included."

"And what of me and my daughter?" Toriel said hotly as she glared daggers at the senator, "do we need to be kept separate as well?"

"I'm very sorry, but yes," said the senator with an uncomfortable sigh as he looked away from my mother, "even a single human soul is too much of a risk."

"How can you be so cruel!" Toriel nearly snarled as she shot up from her seat and cupped her hands as if she were about to produce flames. "We are family senator, she is my dear child, can you even begin to fathom what it would be like for me to lose her!?"

"Dreams do come true!" I said the words excitedly as I squeezed my fists together and excitedly hopped in place. "Go mom go, burn the insolent human!" I know that I shouldn't feel so excited by the prospect of seeing mom torch this jerk. But what can I say, you don't break bad habits overnight.

"Tori-" Asgore began to say through clenched teeth.

"Unfortunately, yes I'm afraid I do know that pain," The senator said the words with a sigh as he walked across the room and handed Toriel an old photograph from his coat pocket. Unfortunately, even after I walked up to my mother's side I couldn't clearly see the photo. I'm a kid, and she's taller than most basketball players. However, I could clearly see her expression softening ever so slightly as she studied the photo, though the fire didn't entirely vanish from her eyes.

"These are my two boys during a camping trip when they were little," Crier said slowly and smiled as his gaze became distant. "My older son, Antonin, he passed on some time ago. My other boy blames me for it, I haven't seen him in a long time now."

"I am sorry for your loss," Toriel said in a tightly controlled voice as she returned the photo, "but this doesn't excuse what you're trying to do! I'm not the only one to grow close to a human in the past year; how could you even conceive of tearing so many people apart!"

"Somebody has to be the responsible one," Crier said with a shrug as he turned and looked back out his window. "We don't live in a kind world, Ms. Toriel, I can't let my own feelings on the matter blind me to that."

"We are done here!" Toriel said the words in a huff before grabbing her handbag and turning to leave. "You may think you are doing the world a favor, senator, but I will not sit idly by and watch you tear my family apart!" Mom crossed the room in a few angry steps and opened the door to Criers office before nearly slamming it behind her.

"Well, that could have gone better," Crier said the words with a sigh as he sat back down at his desk. "I suppose I should have chosen my words more carefully."

"It wouldn't have changed a thing," Asgore said tightly as he stood from his seat. "You threatened her family, sir. Maybe not with violence, but you threatened it all the same. Not many have done that and gotten away with it!"

"Is that a threat?"

"Of course it isn't," Asgore nearly spat the words out in reply as he turned to leave, "but I won't let you put us in a preserve either. Public opinion doesn't support you on that in any case!"

"All that may be true," Crier said with a shrug as he looked directly towards me and grinned. "But I'll convince them. After all, I am filled with determination." The senator winked at me as he said those words, and for just a moment his grin turned into an involuntary sneer.


	14. Chapter 14

Undertale: Long Road  
By: Nathan Weaver  
Chapter 14

* * *

"Doc?" Sans croaked out with a cough as he struggled back to his feet and looked back up at Gaster. The creature that had come out of the portal had changed him somehow. Lit by the faint red light of the rooms monitors, the doctor appeared as a writhing bipedal mass of black tar wrapped around an ivory bone frame.

What had been done to the doctor made Sans feel ill. Looking at that squirming otherworldly figure felt sick and wrong. Part of him wanted to run away and curl up somewhere, but he just couldn't do that, Gaster was family.

"Please, old man," Sans asked in a tired voice as he took an unsteady step forward, his knee buckling as his weight came down on it. "Are you still in there?" Upon asking, the figure turned to study him with glowing purple socket lights for a moment, before slowly stretching its mouth into a grin that seemed to split its face in two.

"Hey!" a warbly terrified voice called out from behind Sans, "get away from that thing!" He turned to see a short fish-faced scientist frantically waving at him to step away from the creature.

"No no, it's good!" Sans said quickly as he held up both hands in surrender, "he looks a little different now, is all!" He knew that'd be a hard sell, but just because the doctor looked scary now didn't mean he'd actually changed. That's what he hoped at least.

"See," Sans said as he gestured back at the dark figure, "he's smiling and everything!"

The creature blurred across the room like a bullet and latched his fingers around the fish monsters neck. The man began to scream but was choked off as the creature easily hauled him into the air.

"Oh, $h-t!" Sans swore in a panic as he stumbled forward.

The room exploded in activity. The scientists that had been huddling in fear before practically scrambled over each other to reach out to their colleague. Hands gripped onto the fish-faced scientist and tried to pull him away from the rampaging beast, but it was as if he was held in place by a vice.

As the men struggled, tar oozed across the creatures ivory arms and began to slowly engulf its captive victim's body inch by inch. The moment the black substance touched him, the man choked out and jerked spastically, his eyes rolling back into his head as the dark sludge ate into his flesh.

"Doc please!" Sans pleaded frantically as he sunk his fingers into Gaster's slick wet shoulder and tried to pull him off the poor man. The dark figure twisted and blurred as it drove the back of its hand into Sans, sending him reeling to the floor for the second time.

As Sans hit the floor, a large, yellow, lizard-like monster lunged forward and opened his burly palm centimeters from the side of the creature's skull. A shining sphere of light ignited within the large scientist's palm as he prepared to unleash a devastating magical blast into his former employer's head.

Sensing danger the creature focused it's glowing eyes on the man. Everyone in the room clutched at their ears as an impossibly loud high-pitched siren stabbed into their minds like an icy dagger.

The lizard monster was the only holdout. As he narrowed his eyes in concentration they shot wide once more as his outstretched arm began to twitch and jerk erratically, repositioning itself against his will. He panted in fear and exertion as he visibly strained to control himself. The muscles in his arm bulged with effort as he grunted and heaved, but it was to no avail. The poor man could only panic and watch helplessly as his own body aimed his own magical attack directly at his skull.

"DAD STOP!" Sans cried out at the top of his lungs as he unsteadily stood back to his full height. Everyone in the room became deathly still as Sans slowly approached the creature. Even the creature was frozen like a statue. Aside from Sans, the only thing that dared to move in the whole room was the captive scientist that continued to struggle beneath the doctor's stranglehold.

"Dad," Sans repeated sadly as he stopped just out of the creatures reach. He'd never called Gaster dad before. It always seemed inappropriate to Sans, he couldn't believe how stupid that sounded to him now.

"I know you're not the one doing this Dad," his shaky voice cracked as he talked, but he forced himself to go on. "It's that thing inside of you doing this, right?"

Sans swallowed, and took a deep breath trying to calm himself. He couldn't believe how scared he was. Scared of this creature, scared of what was going on, scared that he would lose the closest thing he had to a father. A part of him wanted to pretend none of this war happening. But he knew if he gave into that, he'd never forgive himself.

"I know you can stop this," Sans finally continued as he looked back up at the doctor. "You can beat it. Just please don't let it win!"

As if on cue the creature's twisted its head around in a sickening unnatural manner as it glared at the skeleton monster with burning hate-filled eyes.

H̛e҉̨ ̷͟l̴ǫ̧͢s̀͞t͏͞"," a legion of angry voices screamed the two words directly into Sans skull, as his mind was flooded with flashes of strange alien imagery.

The beginnings of a scream were cut off as a loud crack echoed through the room with a flash of light. The lizard monster's body jerked violently before falling forward and dissolving into white dust before hitting the ground.

As the room erupted in panic, the creature melted and flowed around the fish scientist it held captive, engulfing him. The poor man let out one last terrified scream before being entirely subsumed. The creatures body squirmed and bulged obscenely as the poor man struggled inside of it. But within the space of two breaths, the creature went still and slowly reverted to its prior shape as the life inside of it was snuffed out.  
As everyone scrambled away from the creature, the beast reached out and pointed a finger at a single fleeing scientist. As he did, another screech painfully rang out through everyone's minds, and the scientist stopped dead in his tracks.

Sans watched in horror as the creature curled a finger and beckoned the scientist towards him. Like a puppet on strings the poor man clumsily turned and slowly began to walk towards the beast with a look of abject terror written in his wide eyes.

Taking a deep breath, Sans closed his eyes only to realize he was clenching his fist. This really wasn't fair, he knew that. Out of everyone here, he was easily the most talented magic user. Even if the doctor was somewhere inside that thing, if he didn't do something to stop it, who would?

Letting out a breath, Sans made up his mind and looked up at the creature as he raised his shaking left fist.

"Dad, I'm so sorry," Sans choked out as he began surging his magic, " but you're blue now!"  
When the spell took, the creature looked down at its hands as a gentle blue glow enveloped its amorphous body. Sans didn't give it a chance to realize what had happened. With a wave of his hand, Sans altered the flow of gravity and sent the creature falling ninety degrees to the left.

Bones cracked audibly as the creature loudly collided with the wall, but Sans didn't stop. Gesturing to the right, Sans sent the creature falling again, with the same result. Breathing heavily Sans continued his assault. He sent the creature falling left and right, up and down, over and over, with a loud crash echoing through the room each time the beast was smashed against a wall. It was as if he was like a conductor controlling the tempo of some grizzly orchestra.

Each time the creature was slammed against a surface, it's body cracked, twisted, and broke a little more. Even with all that, even as Sans felt his magic reserves draining away, he didn't let up his assault. Dropping the creature to the floor once more, Sans clasped both hands into fists as a dozen long pointy white bones appeared floating in the air above the beast.

Growling with anger, Sans swung his arms downward, sending the ivory-spears punching into the creature with a series of wet impacts; skewering it from many angles and pinning it to the floor. Breathing deep, he raised his arms for another strike when the siren wail from before pierced deep into his mind. His body buckled as he grit his teeth in pain.

Wet icy tendrils snapped around Sans limbs, locking him in place as he stood poised to strike. Grunting, he twisted and pulled to break free, but his body wouldn't listen. He could only stand there in horror as a strange numb sensation quickly spread up along his body toward his skull.

Quick thinking was the only thing to save him. While using his arms to direct magic was his habit, he didn't actually need to move to cast spells. Feeling the cold stinging sensation of the beast's presence pressing against his mind, he closed his eyes and threw his will into the spell. With a grunt of effort, another bone blinked into existence and shot through the creature with a loud slick splat.

When the attack hit, the force holding Sans in place vanished without a trace. Bending forward, he planted his hands on his knees and tried desperately to regain his breath.

Sans had never bothered building up stamina before, and for once he was actually regretting it. Like jogging, using magic used up physical energy, and he wasn't exactly an athlete. So as he stood there panting, he couldn't help thinking this is what running a marathon felt like. If he hadn't disabled the creature when he did, he wasn't certain how much longer he could've lasted.

The moment the thought crossed his mind, the creature began twisting and writhing against the floor. Looking up, Sans was horrified to see the beasts bent and broken limbs straightening with gross crackling snaps, even as black oily flesh seamlessly knit itself back together.

Before Sans could understand what he was seeing, the creature began to push and struggle against the bones pinning it in place. Wasting no time, Sans waved his hand downward and slammed the creature with a wave of gravity, pressing it back to the ground.

Hardly slowing, the creature reached up and wrapped its fingers around one of the ivory spears, and quickly yanked it out of its body with a wet schlip! Gasping for breath, Sans poured down as much gravity as he could, recklessly burning through his remaining stamina. But he could actually feel the beast pushing back somehow, countering his magic with a sickly alien energy of its own.

Sans realized at that moment that he couldn't beat this thing. Panting as he was, his efforts hardly seemed to slow the creature as it reached up and tore away another bone. Worse yet, he was burning through his magic way too quickly. In less than a minute he'd exhaust himself completely, then he'd truly be done.

Sans wracked his brain, his shoulders shaking with effort as he tried to think his way out of this. He didn't have a spell that could kill this creature. He'd already thrown everything he had at it, and the beast had shrugged it off. He couldn't think of any way to trap it either, but he didn't know what else that left.

Looking past the creature, Sans focused across the room at the portal the beast had come out of. Black oily tendrils continued to reach out from it, grasping for purchase on this reality. Other than the creature, nothing else had come all the way through. He didn't think that would last. While the Gate was active, anything could pass through the portal into this world. However, there wasn't any reason couldn't be sent back the other way.

Seizing the thought, Sans gestured upward and surged his magic as he pushed past his fatigue. The bones holding the creature to the ground disappeared, and suddenly the creature went flying into the air. Flicking his wrist once more Sans quickly altered gravity once again and sent the beast falling far across the room, towards the open portal.

The creature hit a wall of black tendrils, reaching through the portal with a loud wet slap. Slowly it turned to glare across the room at Sans with burning hateful eyes.

Sans ignored the icy chill that ran up his back. Clasping his fists tight, he created another dozen bone spires and aimed not at the creature, but at the metal ring holding the portal open. He'd wanted the beast on the other end of the portal when he destroyed the Bridge, but collapsing the portal while it was in it would have to do.

Sans dug deep and created more and more bones, breathing heavily as he filled the air with projectiles. He staggered and quickly righted himself as a wave of dizziness and nausea hit him. He barely had enough stamina left to keep standing. He knew depleting his magic so thoroughly would be dangerous, but he wasn't going to get a second chance at this.

Opening its mask-like mouth impossibly wide, the creature let out a scream that was like turning on a swarm of buzzsaws all at once. Numerous glowing red monitors began to flicker and shatter with a series of sharp pops, as scientists desperately tried to shut out the noise.

Sans staggered as he was hit by the painful shriek, but momentum kept him going forward. With a wave of his hand, several white shafts blurred through the air and punched into the ring, causing the metal to wail in agony.

The first volley didn't seem to do anything. But, as more ivory bones punched into the intricate structure, a crackling electric hum began to emanate from the Bridge. The air around the ring seemed to ripple and vibrate as glowing blue cracks began to slowly spread out into thin-air from the edge of the structure. With each meter the jagged fissures grew, a sound like crackling lake ice could be heard throughout the room.

"Y̸̴̛ǫ͘͠u'̵͝ll̶̛ ̴̛́b̵r͡ę́͢a̶͜k̵̡ i̡͠t̛͜,̛͡ the voice of the creature bled into Sans' mind like an army of contemptuous whispers. He quickly shook his head and continued with his attack. He couldn't stop, he couldn't even slow down. In seconds he'd be out of magic, if he didn't finish this now it would all be for nothing. Swinging arm over arm, he punched more and more bones into the ring with a reckless abandon, even as his ammo dwindled.

"Y҉o̵̢ừ̧'͜l̴l̢͜ ̧҉̀br̴҉e̸ak͠ ͟͝e̕v͟é̢r͘͢y̷͘͡t̵h͝in̶͡g͘,͏" the voice added amidst a chorus of mocking laughter. Sans ignored it entirely. With a final swing of his arm, the last projectile flew across the room and slammed into the ring. As the attack hit, the glowing fissures exploded out across the room in a chaotic jagged pattern. They quickly reached from wall to wall, filling the room with flashes of sharp glaring light.

Everything stopped making sense. Jagged corners of reality fell away like pieces of glass, vanishing into a black nothingness. A deafening rush of air pushed past Sans, into the newly opened gaps in reality. Chairs, notebooks, and other items, flew across the room and disappeared into the dark.

Sans didn't have a clue what was going on anymore. When the ring of the Bridge was destroyed the portal should've simply closed, destroying anything caught in it. This however, this was beyond anything he'd expected. If he wasn't so terrified, a part of him would've been fascinated.

Deciding he needed to secure himself Sans slowly walked back to the exit and grabbed onto the door handle as tightly as he could. Turning back, he could see two scientists desperately holding onto a third screaming figure that was being pulled toward the void.

Between the gaps, Sans barely caught a glimpse of something slithering on the other side of reality. Something impossibly big and terrible. He couldn't even describe it beyond the faintest traces of motion he saw. Yet somehow, even that was enough to make him go frozen with fear.

The creature wearing Gaster's face smiled wickedly as it noticed this, and pointed an ivory digit at Sans, even as reality seemed to contract around it. With a sharp resounding blast, a purple dot of light erupted from the tip of the beast's finger and raced through the air towards Sans.

With an explosion of noise, the fissures in reality broke and reality shattered as a huge gaping hole appeared at the far end of the room. Jagged pieces of light and color flew into the air as they were sucked deep into the void. There was an aborted scream and the ivory-faced creature was torn apart, it's body scattering into a million tiny little pieces as it was torn between worlds.

Before Sans could understand what he'd seen, a purple streak of energy blurred across the room and slammed into his skull. Blinding electric pain shot through his body as his head jerked to the side with a snap and he fell limp to the floor with a quiet thud.

Sans found himself gradually drifting back to awareness as he felt his head resting against the cool cement floor. The first coherent thought that he'd had was the slow realization that he couldn't remember ever hurting this bad in his entire life.

It was only after what felt like several minutes of quiet pitiful groaning that it occurred to him that he should check things out. As tired as he felt he really didn't want to. He couldn't understand why he hurt so much, and why his thoughts seemed to be coming to him so slowly. Eventually, the need to know what was happening won out.

Heaving, Sans gradually sat up and slowly blinked as he began looking around. His vision seemed blurry. It was difficult to focus, and he figured he must've fallen in something because something was blinding him on his left side.

Slowly he shook his head and then winced as a lance of dull pain stabbed into his skull. After reminding himself not to do that again, he focused and looked around to take stock of the situation.

The room was darker than it was before he'd lost consciousness. Some light came from the remaining computer monitors, but it was all phosphorus greens and pale white lights, not the eerie red glow from earlier. He could faintly see the dim figures of other people rushing about, bending over fallen figures and asking questions he couldn't quite hear. He let out a sigh of relief as he realized that these had to be the other scientists.

Sans knew that his colleagues were up and moving around like this, then the danger had to have passed. The creature must really be gone, along with Gaster. His insides went cold at the thought. He hadn't been able to think about it in the middle of the fight, far too many things were happening for that. Now he found himself reeling from the realization that killing the creature meant that he'd never see his mentor again. He'd essentially just killed his own dad.

He shuddered and viciously pushed the thought from his mind. He knew that it'd come back to torment him, but he just couldn't deal with it, not right now. Right now, he had to get himself patched up and get back to Papyrus to tell him what had happened. That'd be painful, those two especially had always been real close.

With a weary sigh, Sans reached up to wipe away whatever it was that was blocking out his vision on his left side. Not being able to see from that side was really bothering him, and whatever he'd fallen in was cold to the point of being numb.

His fingers sunk into a large rough hole where eye-socket should be. For a moment, he just sat there, his sluggish mind unable to process what he was feeling. Then he finally remembered the creatures final attack. That must have been what hit him in the face, that must have been what made him pass out, that's why he'd lost his left eye!

His breathing became irregular and ragged. He just, he didn't know how to deal with this, not on top of everything else. How was he even supposed to? As he tried to deal with these thoughts the world began to spin around him. He struggled for a moment to stay upright, but soon he saw the ground racing up to meet him once again, and everything went black.

* * *

"This isn't funny Sans, wake up!"

Sans awoke with a gasp, his breath coming in and out in quick shallow huffs as he sat up from Papyrus' sofa. Feeling confused he quickly looked around and remembered that he'd spent the night in his brother's penthouse apartment. He hadn't wanted to leave the big guy alone after he'd heard how Avery had died, but now here he was, acting like a mental case over some ancient nightmare while Papyrus looked down at him with a worried expression.

"Oh, hey Pap," said Sans as he tried to force himself to sound normal. With a yawn the skeleton reached up and made a show of rubbing at his temples, while he hid his eyes from his brother. "I'm sorry bro, was I snoring or something again?"

"Please, don't start that again with me," Papyrus said the words softly, gently scolding his brother as he reached forward from his knelt over position and slowly moved Sans hand away from his face. Skeletons don't really cry, not as most people think of it anyway. Instead the lights in their eyes grew larger and less distinct, like they were shining through little pools of water. Right now it was very obvious that Sans was crying.

"I could hear you all the way from my room Sans," Papyrus added as he rested his arms on his brothers shoulders. "Was it the nightmares again?"

"Yeah," Sans slowly turned away in shame, his gaze coming to rest on the window leading out to his brothers balcony. "Sorry about that bro, I just didn't want you to worry."

"Sans, I'm your brother!" Papyrus let out a long sigh and smiled wearily at his sibling, "It's my job to worry!"

"Yeah well it's fine, really," Sans said with a shrug before reaching over and grabbing the television remote from the arm of the sofa. "I'll just watch some infomercial or something, that'll put me right back to sleep."

"You don't want to talk about it?" Sans froze as Papyrus asked the question, his thumb a bare centimeter from the power button. A part of him really would like that, but he'd been down this road before.

"Depends," Sans sighed and let the silence linger uncomfortably before he finally continued. "You, wouldn't happen to remember a guy named, Gaster, would you?"

"That question again," Papyrus sighed and stood up straight before grabbing his chin and quietly hummed in concentration as his eyebrows slowly knit themselves together. "I'm sorry, but I really don't remember anyone with that name!" The tall skeleton threw out his arms in surrender as he stood there slowly shaking his head.

"It's okay bro," said Sans as he let out a breath and turned on the television, "It doesn't really matter."

"Yes Sans, it really does!" Letting out a frustrated little groan, Papyrus plopped down onto the sofa next to his and casually grabbed a sofa pillow to hold onto. "So, what're we watching anyway?"

"Looks like some lady trying to sell us watches," Sans replied with a shrug as he hunched forward and rested his elbows against his legs. "You know, you really don't have to stay up with me if you don't want to. I'll be fine."

"Oh no, the great Papyrus never shirks his brotherly duties!" the tall skeleton grinned at Sans as he finished the statement. "Besides, I wouldn't be able to nap knowing you were like this. Someone has to take care of you."

"Thanks Pap, I appreciate it," Sans smiled and looked back at the television set without really watching what was playing on the screen. It wasn't the first time he was thankful for having a cool kid brother, and he knew it wouldn't be the last. Still, it'd be nice to actually talk to him about, well everything really.

Still, even as he thought it over, Sans knew that he couldn't. When he'd finally come home after the accident he'd tried, but he'd stopped once he realized Papyrus didn't remember Gaster anymore. He still wasn't entirely sure how that worked exactly. It was like being torn between worlds had partially erased the old man from existence somehow.

"You know, I think I might own that watch!" Papyrus commented thoughtfully as he slightly tilted his head.

"Really," Sans asked as he looked at the taller skeleton, "then why don't I ever see you wearing it?"

"Doesn't really fit on my wrist," Papyrus smiled and pointed at the narrow width of the bone question, " but it is a very nice watch!"

"Yeah, it sure looks like it," Sans chuckled and turned to look back to the television. Yeah, it would be nice to talk, about the accident, about Gaster, the mages, about time repeating itself. He thought he might be responsible for that last one, but he wasn't certain. Still, telling Papyrus about all this, it would just make him, confused and sad. If it meant keeping his brother happy and having more moments like this, he could bear it and stay quiet.

After all, the happiness of the people he loved, that was the only thing that mattered in this world. That, and nothing else.


	15. Chapter 15

Undertale: Long Road

By: Nathan Weaver

Chapter 15

* * *

"So what did you do after that?" Toriel leaned back in her chair with a smile as she looked out at the backyard through her home-office window. On a sunny day like this, she would've liked to have gone out with her daughter on her little play date. Unfortunately, not only would that have been very awkward for Frisk, but Toriel had studying she needed to do. Thankfully Undyne had been able to fill in for her.

"Laser-tag!" Frisk stretched out the vowels in laser excitedly as she answered. Toriel could tell she'd actually grinned when she'd said it and couldn't help chuckling silently in response. "We're just finishing that up actually. We're going to get some ice-cream and walk through the park after this."

"Laser-tag?" Toriel asked with a puzzled tilt of her head. It took her a moment to recall that game, but once she did she was even more confused. "Isn't that the game where you run around with toy guns? How did your friend do that without arms, exactly?"

"He did it surprisingly well actually!" Frisk answered with a giggle as if she'd had a big laugh over this just recently. "Undyne got really ticked near the end!"

"And nobody was hurt?" Toriel couldn't help chuckling aloud as she slowly shook her head at the image.

"Not unless you count that wall she plowed through!"

"Wall?" Toriel repeated, her eyes widened as she thought about paying for those kinds of damages. "What wall are we talking about, exactly?"

"Mom it's okay!" Frisk was clearly holding back laughter as she said this. "It was like cardboard or something! She's taking care of it herself." As if on cue, Undyne's frustrated shriek could be heard clearly over the phone, as her argument with the places owner reached new heights.

"My child, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" Toriel let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding and smiled. Ordinarily, she might've been irritated at being made to worry but given how somber Frisk had been lately, she couldn't really be upset. It was nice to see her loosen and smile again.

"Sorry momma."

"It is fine my little one," Toriel smiled and slowly shook her head at her daughter's antics. "But, try to be home on time, would you not?" With the recent death of the librarian, Toriel didn't want Frisk out late. Especially since his death was beginning to look like a murder.

This was why Toriel had sent Frisk off with Undyne, instead of Sans. Not only was she a capable fighter, but Sans had seemed worn out when he'd come home from spending the night with Papyrus. He insisted it was nothing, but she still couldn't help worrying about him.

"Yeah, I know mom," Frisk answered, snapping Toriel's mind back to the present. "I'll be home on time, don't worry."

"Thank you," Toriel smiled and was once again thankful that such a good, thoughtful child had come into her life. "Now go, and have fun on your big date!" She waggled her eyebrows as she slyly emphasized those last words. She'd had far too much fun teasing Frisk about this.

"Mom!" Frisk spoke through the line tightly, clearly still uncomfortable with the situation, "I told you, it's just a play date!"

"Yes yes, I know," Toriel answered with a grin and unconsciously shrugged. For Frisk, she was certain this wasn't at all serious. She just hoped that Monster saw it the same way. "Well, you go have fun, my child!"

"Thanks mom, I'll see you later!" with that Frisk ended the call. Once more Toriel was left with only the steady ticking of the clock mounted high on the wall for companionship. With a quiet groan, she stretched out the stiffness from her shoulders and bent over to study for the upcoming exams.

Opening her tablet, Toriel began to go over her old notes. However, after a few minutes unproductive minutes she started to become frustrated. She seemed to be having real trouble focusing. She kept losing track of where she was, which forced her to re-read paragraphs over and over. It wasn't only her notes either. She seemed to have trouble focusing on nearly anything.

Every time she began making headway, she wandered back to questions and anxieties she'd been trying to put out of her mind for several days. Why Flowey's magical aura was identical to her deceased son's was particularly difficult for her to shake. Not that this was the only thing weighing on her, but the old wounds were always the most difficult to ignore.

While Toriel struggled with this, the clock on the wall ticked away seemingly becoming louder and more obnoxious with each passing second. After an eternity desperately trying to ignore the clocks mechanical clicks, she finally broke down and looked back up at the device.

She was horrified, and more than a bit frustrated to see that she'd been sitting there for nearly a half hour, and had hardly gotten anything done. With a sigh, she shook her head and slowly stood. If this was the best she could do right now, then she clearly needed to change gears.

Ignoring her problems wasn't working, which left her only one option. That said, she didn't particularly like that option. It felt a too much like snooping behind her daughter's back for her taste. Despite that, she couldn't think of anything else that might get her some answers. So after a moment of hesitation, she made up her mind and slowly walked out of the room.

A minute later Toriel opened the door to Frisk's room and smiled as she leaned in and waved. The flower on the table near the window looked up at her from across the room. He must have thought Frisk had returned because his expression turned from pleased to almost horrified upon seeing her.

"Hello Flowey," Toriel gave an awkward little wave of her hand as she walked the rest of the way into Frisk's room. "Are you doing alright up here alone?"

"I'm uh, I'm fine alone, by myself." As he spoke Flowey's eyes slowly kept going back and forth from Toriel to the piece of paper he'd been hunched when she'd entered the room. It wasn't until she saw the crayon he was holding in one of his leaves that she realized what he must have been doing.

"Are you coloring a picture?" Toriel asked the question with an arch of her brows as she slowly walked across the room. She was a bit surprised, she'd never known her strange houseguest to be interested in anything artistic before. "Would you mind if I took a look?"

"Ye-yes, I do!" Flowey said the words in a panic as she walked closer. Initially, he tried to cover the picture with his leaves, but then let out a snarl and crumpled it into a ball instead. Then he tossed the crumpled paper across the room and missed the waste basket by a large margin. "It's nothing!" he said, growling out the words in obvious irritation "what do you want!?"

"Well, you are all alone up here," Toriel idly glanced at the crumpled paper on the floor curiously before looking back to the flower. "I was, a little worried about you."

"Well aren't you the saint!" Flowey said with a sarcastic roll of his eyes. "What do you really want?"

"Am I really that transparent?" Toriel asked with a thin smile as she let out a silent huff of laughter. "Well, I just wanted to ask you, did you know my son Asriel in any way?" Normally she wouldn't be so blunt, but Flowey had never been forthcoming with her. What's more, he'd gone perfectly still the moment she asked. That alone told her the question meant something to him.

"No," Flowey said in a cool, harsh tone before carefully averting his gaze, "I never knew him!"

Toriel's shoulders slumped almost imperceivably when she heard the answer. She somehow knew it was a lie the moment the words had come out of Flowey's mouth. She stared down at her feet for a moment and tried to quickly sort through her emotions before she forced herself to face Flowey once again. She wasn't sure how to feel about this. This wasn't the sort of thing where winning would make her at all happy. However, now that she knew that she wasn't crazy, she felt she had no choice but to press forward.

"Young man," Toriel started in a strict sober tone that somehow made Flowey flinch, "I know you lied to me just now. So please tell me, what is the connection between you and my son?"

"What do you want to hear, old woman!?" Flowey hissed out each word angrily while glaring back up at her. "That your son and I were close? That he told me all his secrets and fears? That's just, just stupid!" The flower trailed off tiredly with a shake of his head and he sat staring at the floor.

"I wasn't actually born, you know," Flowey continued quietly as he looked back up at the older woman and gave her a grin that seemed somehow both tired and manic. "I'm not a person, I'm a thing! I was created just a few years ago, well after your son died. How could I know him?"

As disturbing as this information was, Toriel knew he was telling the truth this time. Even ignoring that he was somehow built, the timeline still didn't make any sense. He knew Asriel somehow, but was only a few years old? She rubbed at the bridge of her muzzle as she tried to work it out in her head. She just couldn't understand how both of these things could be true.

"Fine," Toriel said as she took a deep breath to compose herself and narrowed her eyes at the flower, "so tell me, how are you connected to him then?"

"I, I'm your, I mean I'm not," Flowey began to breathe heavily as he stammered, his eyes shifting about wildly.

*You know, maybe you should just tell her. It might be easier on you.

Toriel blinked in confusion and cautiously took a half step back. Frisk had told her that Flowey was fragile, but she hadn't realized what she'd meant until just now. It was like he was on the verge of a panic attack.

"Are, are you alright?" Toriel asked the question hesitantly. She didn't really think she was in any danger, but that didn't mean she should push things too hard.

"No, no I'm really not!" Flowey chuckled quietly and looked up at Toriel with a wide creepy smile that sent shivers down her back. He must have noticed because he seemed to suddenly deflate as his smile disappeared. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be like this, I really don't!"

"I understand," Toriel gave a thin smile and tried her best to sound comforting. She didn't know what Flowey's story was, and he was certainly unnerving, but she still felt sorry for him.

"Don't say you understand," Flowey rolled his eyes tiredly as he looked back up at Toriel. "Nobody understands what this is like. Frisk comes close, but even she doesn't really get it!"

"Why not explain it to me then?" Toriel asked hopefully as she took a cautious step forward. "Would confiding in me not make it better?"

"It would make it worse!" Flowey growled out the words as he glared angrily at Toriel. "What, would even be the point? If I knew something about your son, which I don't, it wouldn't change anything! Wouldn't you be happier to forget him and move on?" By the time he finished speaking, his anger seemed to run out, only to be replaced by a sort of baffled curiosity.

"I could never forget about my son!" her words came out in a cold, tightly controlled manner as she glared down at Flowey with a stern expression. "I would not want to, even if I could."

"Why not?" Flowey asked in the same curious tone from before. "Remembering hurts, doesn't it? I'd want to forget if I could!" Toriel blinked in confusion at Flowey's wording, before dismissing it with a slight shake of her head. That sounded like the truth to her, but he had to have meant it rhetorically.

"It, well it is simple really," she choked on the words uncomfortably as she tried not to dwell on painful memories. "You just, need to take the bad with the good sometimes."

Toriel couldn't help picturing Asriel's weary face as he sat on the ground before her, the last ounce of his life disappearing before she could heal him. Despite that regret, a bittersweet smile spread across her face as she recalled the happy times they'd spent together. The musical sound of his laughter, the way his smiled brightened up her day. These memories were her treasure, she would tolerate any pain to protect them.

"That doesn't mean you need to know everything!" Flowey quietly muttered the words to himself and shook his head. Toriel was certain he hadn't meant to say that aloud, but she narrowed her eyes and seized upon the opening regardless.

"You admit it then!" Toriel narrowed her eyes and harshly shook a finger towards her house guest as she leveled the accusation. "You know something about my son!"

"What, no I don't!" Flowey blustered as his eye's widened in panic,"I didn't say that!"

*This is ridiculous, just tell her!

"You will stop lying to me this instant Flowey!" her strict rigid tone made it clear she would accept no argument as she confidently stepped forward and locked eyes on the plant. She knew she was being too aggressive, but she was done dancing around the subject. "You will tell me how you are connected, right this instant!"

"SHUT UP!" Flowey opened his mouth wide and drew out the words, hollering them at the top of his lungs, "shut up, shut up, just, just shut up!" The flower heaved in and out deeply as he finished, his entire body was visibly shaking. Toriel froze in place as she looked down at the pathetic creature with a sense of growing guilt. She really had pushed him too hard this time.

"Do you have any idea how difficult this is for me?" Flowey asked the question quietly, almost whispering as his gaze settled downward.

"I, I am sorry what?" Toriel asked softly as she furrowed her brows in confusion.

"Seeing you!" Flowey drew out the words in an angry hiss as he glared up a Toriel. "I have to see you every day and remember what I did! But, you don't see me, you look right through me, and it's not fair!" He seemed to lose steam and trail off as he went on. By the end, it was almost as if he was talking to himself.

Toriel opened her mouth to speak but closed it when she realized she didn't know what to say. She didn't know what this poor little thing was trying to tell her! Whatever it's story actually was, there was clearly a lot of pain there. She did want to know how Flowey was connected to her son, but she was starting to think she'd gone about it in the wrong way.

"I am, I am sorry," Toriel wasn't sure if that was the right thing to say. Maybe her daughter would know how to comfort Flowey, but she didn't. What's more, she realized how foolish it was to think that she could barge in and demand answers from someone she hardly even knew.

"Just, just go," his words were barely more than a whisper as he slowly turned from Toriel and stared out at the sky through the window. "I want to be alone."

"Are you sure you do not wish to-"

"JUST GO!" Flowey snapped out without turning, cutting Toriel off mid-sentence.

*Asriel, you and I are going to have words later!

With a sigh, Toriel turned to leave. She wouldn't get anything out of Flowey anymore, and probably wouldn't for awhile, even if her daughter was okay with her interrogating him. As protective of Frisk was of him, she didn't think she'd be okay with that.

As she took her first step, Toriel looked down at the balled up piece of paper on the floor that Flowey had been coloring on earlier. Almost on impulse she silently bent down and snatched it up before her house-guest could see what she was doing.

She felt horrible taking it after everything she'd already done, but he clearly hadn't wanted her to see this. It was a bit of a stretch, but it was just possible that whatever he drew might give her a clue into his past.

The door shut behind her with a click moments later. Sighing, Toriel let out a deep breath and leaned back tiredly against the wall. The whole affair had been more draining for her than she expected. What's more, she wouldn't be getting anymore studying done anytime soon. Of that she was certain.

After a long moment basking in the silence, Toriel looked down at the balled up piece of paper and slowly began to open it up, flattening out its many creases.

At first, she didn't recognize what had been drawn onto the paper. It was just like any children's drawing she'd ever seen. The shapes were rudimentary and messy, bright colors were splashed around everywhere with little regard for the lines. Despite how crudely drawn the figures were, she recognized their shape, and felt her heart sink.

Wet streaks formed under her eyes as tears dotted the paper, blurring the picture. She recognized the simple house as a crude representation of her own. She recognized the two tall white shapes in purple as Asgore and herself. Standing between them there were two smaller shapes. One was drawn in yellow and wore purple and pink stripes, the other was white and covered with yellow and green.

She stared at the image, desperately searching for any other meaning, but when she couldn't find one it became difficult to breathe. The paper felt so heavy that her hand began to shake from the effort of holding it. Yet she couldn't take her eyes off the image of Frisk and Asriel, standing hand in hand. Her knees buckled as jagged little shards of emotion opened up wounds inside of her that had long since been closed.

"How? No, what is this?" Toriel silently choked out the words between sobs as she slowly slid down the wall and sank to the floor. Without intending to, she let the paper slip from her fingers and watched it fall gently to the ground. Even from the floor, she saw the wrinkled form of a family that could've been hers, staring back up at her with uneven smiles. Finally, it was just too much for her, and she buried her face in her hands.

"I'm sorry, I, I don't know!" Toriel quietly wept out the words, abandoning her formal way of speaking as she struggled to make sense of things. "I, I just, I can't understand!"


	16. Chapter 16

Undertale: Long Road

By: Nathan Weaver

Chapter: 16

"Hey, why don't you want to tell mom anyway?" Frisk asked with an uneasy hesitation as her will to pay attention to the film on her tablet broke under the weight of her concern. Normally she was quiet when she watched movies in bed like this with Flowey. Ever since seeing Star Wars he'd fallen in love with old films, and it was a good way for both of them to settle down for bed.

Tonight, no matter how hard Frisk tried she couldn't seem to get into it, and it seemed as if the same held true for Flowey. Though he never looked away from the screen, his gaze seemed distant and his expression was nothing short of sour. Of course, she couldn't always read him correctly but she was sure he was either trying to work through something or to forget it.

For her part, most of Frisk's day had been a welcome release for her. Her play date with MK had been a great way for her to let off some steam, and she'd actually been able to forget about her problems for a while. Then she came home and found Toriel acting even more distant and upset than she was after the incident on MK's birthday. At first, she thought she was imagining it, but after mom asked about Flowey at dinner she knew something had to have happened.

Frisk chewed up her lower lip and felt her gut twist into a guilty knot as she thought back to dinner and how she'd lied for Flowey to keep his secret safe. It felt horrible, and she suspected mom knew she was lying anyway. Despite that, she couldn't tell her where Flowey came from and who he really was, it just wasn't her secret to tell.

"Jeez, way to ruin the mood you big dummy!" Flowey answered grumpily as his grip around the little red blanket draped around him tightened. "What, did the old woman ask you about me too?"

"Yeah, she did," Frisk reluctantly admitted, even as she realized that Toriel must have asked Flowey about his past as well. "I really didn't tell her anything, but if she's this determined I'm not sure we can keep this from her forever."

"Well, we better hope we can," Flowey sighed somberly and glanced at Frisk before casting his gaze downward. "She can't know about me, neither of them can."

"Why not?" Frisk asked as she tapped the screen to pause the movie and sat her tablet to the side. "Mom's smart, she'll figure it out sooner or later."

"No, she won't!" Flowey seethed and glared at Frisk before looking back to the floor. "Frisk, I died, you don't come back from that, not as far as she knows anyway." He trailed off and stared into space with a sigh as his mouth curved into a thin weary smile.

"Besides, I hardly ever talk to her" Flowey added as he tilted his head in the equivalent of a shrug, "I don't know what set her off, but if I stay quiet she-she'll forget about me eventually." The way his words caught left little doubt in Frisk's mind that saying that had been difficult for him. Though he insisted he still couldn't feel things like love and empathy, it was hard for Frisk to keep believing it.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk to her?" Frisk slowly asked, not certain how he'd respond, "I don't know if that's scary for you or anything but, she's your mom too."

"She's not my mom Frisk, not anymore," Flowey answered in almost a whisper as he looked away from her, "and I'm not scared." He quietly growled out the last bit irritably as he quickly turned back to glare at her.

Frisk supposed that'd been pushing it a bit, but it was a mild response by his standards. She was certain that only a few weeks earlier he would've practically bitten her head off for daring to imply he had something as mundane as fears.

"Yeah I'm Sorry," Frisk said softly as she looked back and forth between her tablet and Flowey. "I'm not really in the mood for movies anymore, are you?" Flowey slowly shook his head without saying a word. He hadn't seemed very energetic to start with, and now it looked like talking had taken whatever he'd had left.

"Alright, are you good where you are?" Frisk asked as she sat aside her tablet for the night. Normally Flowey slept on his table since that's where his reading material and the Gameboy was. However, she didn't feel like getting out of bed right now.

"Yeah, here's fine," Flowey said as he brought up a leaf to stifle a yawn.

"Alright," Frisk said as she reached over and turned off the lamp with a click, banishing the light from the room. "Goodnight Flowey," she added as she settled back under the covers.

"Night Frisk," Flowey answered without thought, as he pulled his makeshift blanket tighter around him. Within moments, both of their lids grew heavy as they drifted off into slumber.

"She's not your mom anymore, really?" I let out an agonized groan as I sat on a chair next to Flowey's table and stared across the dark room at my brother. "Were you always this melodramatic or is this just a flower thing?"

"W-what?!" Flowey sat up bolt straight, his eyes darting wildly around the room before settling in my direction. As dark as the room was, I wasn't surprised that he didn't immediately recognize me. However, as he studied my face in the meager light, his expression slowly shifted from panic to confusion, before finally settling into shocked recognition.

"C-Chara!?" Flowey asked in an almost reverent whisper as he stared at me in open-mouthed wonder. "Chara, is that really you?"

"No, it isn't," I said with a sigh as I slowly stood and pushed my chair in. "I'm dead remember, you're just having another dream."

The weight of Flowey's disappointment settled on my chest as the lie left my mouth. Even now, there were many emotions that I could only feel through the people I attached myself to. The only time I ever felt love for Asriel was when I felt it through Frisk. Strangely enough, because of that it actually felt worse to lie to him now than it did when I was alive.

"Oh, so this is a dream then," Flowey sagged as the words sunk in before looking around the room with a discerning eye. "You know it's weird, this doesn't really seem like a dream." I couldn't blame him for being disappointed, or skeptical for that matter. As far as dreams went this was the most mundane one I'd seen yet. Heck, Asriel was still a flower in this dream, that was nothing short of sad as far as I was concerned.

"Yep, totally a dream!" I said with a sarcastic roll of my eyes as I took a few steps across the room and made a show of looking around and inspecting things. "But I gotta say Asriel, as far as dreams go, this one is very disappointing!" At that, Flowey blinked in confusion as he looked around the room with a bewildered look on his face.

"I guess it is a little boring," Flowey said as he turned back to me with a shrug, "but who cares, at least nothing bad is happening in this one!"

"Oh come on, it's a dream!" I answered incredulously and motioned around the room with dramatic waves of my hands. "Can you honestly tell me that of all the places you could be dreaming about, your room was your number one choice?"

"Well, what do you expect?!" Flowey replied grumpily as he let out an irritated puff of breath, "it's not like I get out all that often!"

"All the more reason to try something new!" I said with a sly grin as I made finger guns at the flower. "Besides, I don't get out much either." Granted, I could actually go anywhere I wanted, so long as I knew someone in the area, but Flowey didn't actually know that.

"Alright," Flowey said as he looked back to me, "how about this?"

The moment he finished speaking the room changed, almost more quickly than the blink of an eye. The carpet was replaced with warm hardwood floors, a fireplace materialized along the wall, which itself shifted hue to become a warm creamy yellow. In the middle of all that, I didn't even notice that Flowey's tiny little table had been replaced until I took a step back and bumped into a much larger rectangular piece of wooden furniture.

A smile spread across my face as I recognized the dining room back in our old home in the underground. It wasn't the dusty run down house Asgore had let it become either. This was the warm comforting home where we had lived together, eaten together, and laughed together. Even if it was a dream, it was nice to see the place like this again.

"Wow, this is really impressive!" despite my efforts I couldn't help sounding excited as I looked around and examined the room with a critical eye. "This place, it looks exactly like I remember it!" It really was too, even the crackle of the fire somehow seemed right.

"Well of course it is!" Flowey said in a prickly voice as he looked up at me from the lazy-seat near the fireplace and narrowed his eyes. "You're a part of my dream, aren't you? Why would you remember it any differently?" His suspicion-filled eyes lingered on me for a long moment before he slowly turned to look into the fire.

Letting out a breath, I reminded myself that I'd need to be more careful. As easy as it was to manipulate Asriel when we were both younger, he wasn't actually an idiot. Oh sure, he probably wouldn't even remember this dream after waking up, but I didn't want to risk it. If he learned I was really here, he might cling onto me again, he might even convince himself that he could bring me back to life somehow.

My lips curved into a bitter smile at the thought, and I let out a quiet sigh as I stared intently at the floor to hide my face. It'd be gratifying in a way, to know for sure that after all this time he was still infatuated with me and even cared about me. No matter how satisfying that might be, it'd only end up hurting him. I knew I couldn't be saved, there wasn't enough of me left to bring back. So why get his hopes up for something that could never happen?

"Whoever said dreams made sense," I said with a slow dismissive wave of my hand as I took a long step toward my brother. "Sometimes they show us things, things that we'd rather not think about; things that scare us, confuse us. There's a reason for that, there's always something our minds are trying to tell us."

"Amazing, you even sound like her!" Flowey said with a snicker as a smile briefly tugged at his lips. "So this dream, what news is my warped little mind trying to tell me tonight?"

"Mom, I think she already knows who you are," I spoke firmly, trying to project as much certainty as I could as I turned to stare into the flickering flame.

"No way," Flowey said with a dismissive shake of her head, "she wouldn't ask me questions if she knew the answer, she'd skip straight to the melodrama!"

"Normally that'd be true," I said with a grin as I reached and held my hands up to the warmth of the fire. "The thing is, she already knows everything she needs to know to figure out who you are. The only reason she hasn't is because the truth sounds too crazy. People don't normally come back from the dead."

"So what the heck is the problem then?" Flowey asked irritably as his gaze briefly flickered back toward me, "she's still clueless!"

"She's not clueless, all this is just kinda crazy!" I forced a smile and struggled to push down the raw irritation I felt at having to deal with Flowey's poor attitude."Look, sooner or later you're going to slip up, or she'll ask the right question, maybe she'll even exhaust every other possibility. What do you think will happen then smart guy?!" My grin turned wide and arrogant as I turned to look down at the flower with a contemptuous tilt of my head.

To my surprise, Flowey didn't immediately fire back. Instead, his eyes slowly shifted from side to side in thought as his confidence melted away.

"Okay Genius, tell me this!" Flowey began after taking a moment to cobble his confidence back together. "If she's going to find out, how do I stop her?"

"Well, look I don't think that you actually can," I said as a took a deep breath and forced the grin from my face. "It might sound crazy, but I think you'd be better off telling her."

"Oh heck no!" Flowey twisted his face into a sour expression as he rejected the idea with an emphatic shake of his head. "I don't care what anyone says, I'm not telling her, ever!"

"Well why the heck not!?" I said as I clenched my fists and struggled with my patience, "she's going to find out, you might as well!"

"Because I can't love her!" Flowey's words echoed throughout the room as he glared at me with openly bared teeth. In the moments that passed the room went silent, even the crackling of the fireplace seemed to fade away. The only thing that could be heard was Flowey's ragged breaths as his anger slowly drained away, only took be replaced by exhaustion.

"It's not like I haven't tried this before, you know," Flowey began, his voice almost a tremble as he seemed to bend over and wilt. "I tried before, I just wanted to feel again so badly!" Sadly he gave a weak smiled and took a deep breath to steady himself. He had to be talking about before he met Frisk, back when he had the power to reset time. Though I knew he tried and did a lot of horrible things during this time, the fact that he'd tried to make things work with mom was news to me.

"I showed up one day and I told her who I was. She was really nice about it, she said that she'd always love me and take care of me, but I still couldn't feel anything for her!" Flowey chuckled weakly at that and paused. As he did, I couldn't help noticing the far away look in his moist dark eyes.

"I tried making it work for months," Flowey said with a weak shrug, "but each day things got worse for both of us. Because I couldn't love her back, she became depressed and was tired all the time, and I couldn't help getting more frustrated and angry! Telling mom was nothing but a mistake, and resetting it was a mercy for us both." He quietly trailed off and the room went silent, leaving me with only the crackle of the fire for company.

"You might be right about that," I said as I let out a weary breath and scratched at the back of my head. Telling her who you were then was probably a mistake."

"Wow, I can't believe it!" said Flowey with a sarcastic grin, "I won an argument with the whiny little voice in my own head, it's a miracle!" My teeth clenched together tight at the insult. A more rational part of me knew he hadn't meant it, but even when they weren't intentionally I'd never been able to handle insults from him.

"Asriel, don't you dare change the subject," I said in a severe tone as I turned and narrowed my eyes at the plant. "Yeah, as long as you can't love you probably shouldn't tell her, but we both know you can fix that problem now!"

"If you mean those pills then you can forget it!" Flowey grumbled angrily as he turned to look away from me. "I am not taking those again, I can't!"

"Yes you can, you whiny little crybaby!" I spat the words out like venom and leaned forward to pick up Flowey's pot before bringing him to my face. "At least one of us needs a happy ending, so shut up and do as I say!" I knew I'd completely lost my temper, but not only did he insult me when I came to help, but when given the chance to get back everything he wanted to throw it away. How could I not get angry about that!?

"C-Chara?!" Flowey choked on the name between gasps of breath as he stared at me with wide eyes filled with both recognition and terror. "You're dead, how can you be here!?" Icey regret passed through me as I closed my eyes and cringed at the enormity of my mistake. Of course Asriel would recognize me if I lost my temper, Heck, those were practically the last words I said to him before he died.

"No, no no no" Flowey chanted in a whisper, "I can't do this, not right now!" As he muttered to himself the world around me began to disappear. Books, furniture, even the walls, and floor faded from existence, leaving me surrounded by a featureless shadow as I held Flowey in my hands.

"Please go!" Flowey said with a sob as he looked at me with tears streaming down his face," I don't want you seeing me like this!" With that he too disappeared, leaving me alone.

"I'm sorry, Chara," came a soft and painfully familiar weeping voice from somewhere behind me. Wordlessly I turned to the voice, too afraid I was mistaken to draw breath. It wasn't until I saw the small furry white figure of Asriel, kneeling against a bed, that my lungs worked again.

It felt strange to be standing there looking at him. Most of the time I couldn't feel emotions like love, hope, or compassion. When I did feel them, they were only faint echoes from the people I was attached to. However, as I saw Asriel kneeling there as he originally appeared, a warm sensation briefly flared in my chest and felt a smile flicker across my face.

I opened my mouth to greet him but stopped in my tracks as I saw the dead figure lying still in the bed in front of him. She was a kid, not yet even ten years old. Her pale skin was reddened and blistered around her face, and her eyes were sunken and lifeless. She'd laid there for hours as her body was wracked with pain and her organs failed.

I knew this because I could clearly remember it all in the hours leading to my death. I didn't understand why realizing who I was had caused Asriel's dream to shift so dramatically, but at least I understood what I was seeing.

"You were gone," Asriel said with a sob as he desperately held my deceased bodies hand firmly in his grip. "You were gone, and it was all my fault!"

"That, this wasn't your fault," I whispered quietly as I uncomfortably looked away from the dead body conjured by Asriel's mind. "I asked for this remember, it was all my idea."

"I could've stopped it!" Asriel shot back with a whimper, "If I'd had a spine and said no, neither of us would've died!" Impulsively I turned back to my brother and opened my mouth to comfort him, only to close it when nothing came to my mind. He wasn't wrong, he chose to go along with my plan, to fetch the poison, to help me choke it down when he knew it'd end my life. I wouldn't have even asked him if I'd thought I couldn't make him do it, but I doubted telling him that would help.

"You were gone and I was just, so alone!" Asriel continued with a sniffle. "I couldn't feel anything, I couldn't love anyone. I was alone and afraid, so I called out to you, I called out over and over for I don't even know how long!"

"But nobody came!" I clutched at my ears as a cold cruel voice rang out from all around. A chill ran up my spine as I recognized the voice of Flowey, but it wasn't the same Flowey I'd come to know. This was the voice of the terrifying abomination that absorbed six human souls and tormented Frisk over a year ago. Remembering it made me shudder as I recalled the fear I felt from Frisk during that nightmare.

"No, no not again!" Asriel repeated in a panic as he tucked his head between his legs and began rocking back and forth. The bed with my body vanished, at the same time figures appeared around us, strung-up by their limbs by thorny vines that appeared out from the shadows.

"My son," croaked the vision of Asgore as he slowly looked up and weakly smiled at Asriel, " forgive me!" A vine whipped out of nowhere, tearing through the large man and reducing him to dust as he let out an airy pained gasp.

"Why are you hurting me!" Toriel cried out through tears as she stared sadly at her son's violently rocking form. "Do you hate me so much?!" Once more a vine whistled through the air and elicited a loud cry from the woman as it ripped through her.

"I'm sorry" Asriel cried and clutched his ears continued his rocking, "it wasn't me!"

"Who am I trying to fool!" Flowey said with a bitter voice from somewhere off in the distance, "of course it was me, I'm the worst!"

One by one the remaining figures became visible only to be cut down. Undyne struggled against her bonds and swore, Alphys cried and shook in terror, Papyrus smiled gently and told Asriel that he believed in him, still it went on seemingly without end!

"Stop it!" I yelled out as I looked up and glared up into the darkness where I thought I heard Flowey's voice. "What is even the point of all this?!"

"I can't stop!" Flowey and Asriel both said at once in unison as Asriel turned to look at me with wet amber eyes. "I get like this whenever I start feeling again. I can't stop thinking about all things that I've done and the people that I've hurt. It's so pathetic!" It was Asriel alone that spoke the final few words, which oozed with both pain and contempt.

"Well, at least you're feeling something," I said quietly as I looked to the ground to hide the envy and shame written on my face, "That's something, isn't it!?" The fact that he could feel again wasn't a surprise, but even seeing how much it was hurting him, I still couldn't help feeling jealous.

"It hurts too much," Asriel said with a sniffle as he hid his faces in his hands, "I don't want to feel this way, not anymore!" Huge red thorned vines exploded up from the ground and smoothly wrapped around Asriel before hauling him into the air.

"Asriel!" I screamed aloud and pumped my arms as I ran towards the base of the thick vines growing out of the ground! "What are you doing!?"

"I'm sorry," Asriel said as the plants pushed him further away from me, "I thought if I looked like this, maybe I could handle it, but I can't! I don't want you to see me looking so pathetic!"


	17. Chapter 17

Undertale: Long Road

By: Nathan Weaver

Chapter: 17

"This is nuts!" I growled out between clenched teeth as I stared at all the vines stretching up through the air like coiling snakes bent on defying gravity. As they grew thicker, they began to twist and entwine around each other until they resembled a giant thorny beanstalk jutting up out of the ground like a tower.

Entranced I sharply shook my head, snapping my mind back to my situation. While I'd stood there the vines had already grown taller than most tree's, and Asriel was getting further away with each moment.

The clock was ticking, and try as I might, I could think only think of one incredibly stupid way to catch him. Forcing myself not to think about it, I took a deep breath and launched myself forward, pumping my legs hard before leaping through the air towards the growing vines.

The air was forced from my lungs as I collided into the plant with a thud. With a clack of teeth, my mouth snapped shut as white-hot pain erupted from the long red thorn piercing my shoulder. Through the haze of agony, I could see that it wasn't blood pouring from the wound, but black, oily smoke. It billowed out of me from my wound, curling around the wooden spike as it drifted off. As surreal as that was, what really scared me was that I could feel my thoughts, memories, and emotions flowing out of me along with the smoke.

"Chara!" Asriel's screamed, his panicked voice echoing all around me, "Holy crap, are you alright!?"

"I'm fine!" I hissed out tightly as I twisted and dislodged the spine from my shoulder with a grunt of pain, "don't be such a crybaby!"

Slowly the wound began to close, and the smoke billowing out of it began to sputter and choke off. Despite that, the world whirled around me more and more. Even as my vision began to darken and blur.

I reached for the nearest thorn, intending to use it to climb, but it seemed to slip through my fingers as my strength vanished. Before I knew it I was falling backward, the air rustling in my ears as the ground rushed up to meet me. The last thing I saw before blacking out was the sight of many slender green vines racing down towards me, as someone yelled out something indistinct.

I became aware of cool grass against the back of my hand, as I laid back up against something comfortable and warm. With effort, my protesting eyelids fluttered open and I saw Asriel looking down at me with heavy worried eyes as a star-filled sky stretched out behind him.

"You idiot!" Asriel choked out as he looked down at me and noticed I was awake, "I thought you were going to die, what were you thinking!?"

"Didn't know I could be hurt," I groaned with a weak grin as I sat up and turned to look at my shoulder. My wound from earlier was gone. In its place, there was some sort of ash black scab. It ached when I moved my arm too much, but I was more concerned with the hollowed out feeling inside me. I couldn't help wondering what I'd lost when I hurt myself.

"Looks like I was wrong," I said as I forced a weak smile and looked around. "It seems like even the dead can die!" It took me awhile to recognize where I was in the dim moonlight, but then I saw a slide and some swings and realized that I was in one of the larger parks Frisk liked.

"That's not funny!" Asriel said with a frown as he turned to glare at me with sad eyes. "You shouldn't joke about being dead!"

"I wasn't joking," I slowly sat up straight and gave a slight shrug, "I really am still dead."

"Oh, I see," Asriel shoulders sank as if anchors had suddenly been attached to them. "So if you're, you know, dead, how are you here?"

"It's kinda weird," I shifted uneasily and tried to think of something to say if only to buy me time to think. I'd known for awhile that I might have to tell Asriel about me, but I still wasn't sure how to do that. How do you even begin to tell someone that you're only the empty shadow of a rotten person?

"Look, if you're not going to run again, could we talk over there?" I stood and pointed towards the swings, "I don't want to do this on the dirt."

"Alright sure," Asriel said as he stood and looked back and forth between me and the swings with a sheepish smile, "I've never tried one of those actually!" As I walked to the swings, I couldn't help shaking my head and grinning at the comment. My brother was still a little kid sometimes.

"This place is nice," I said as I sat down in the swing and looked up at the clear star speckled sky, "is that why you picked it?"

"I haven't really thought about it," Asriel shrugged and gripped the chains of his swing tightly as he looked to the sky and lost himself among flickering lights. "You were laying there, and things just changed again. Maybe I just needed to see the stars. I've always wanted to see more of them"

A smile formed on my face as I thought back to when I fell into the underground. He got tired of asking about the surface, and the sky in particular. The idea that there was just so much out there fascinated him.

"Yeah, you always were a nerd," I sighed as I looked to the ground only to let out a tired chuckle. "Cute and all, but still a nerd!"

"Well, I guess maybe I was," Asriel trailed off and glanced downward as well as we both sat in an awkward silence that kept stretching on. I don't think either of us really knew what to say, but eventually, I reluctantly decided to bite the bullet and start off.

"So, you don't want to feel anymore?" I asked uneasily as I broke the silence and turned to look at him. "It's okay if you don't, I'm just trying to understand." That was a lie of course. It mattered, oh my gosh did it matter, but I didn't want to upset him. Besides, it wasn't as if I could feel bad about lying.

"I'm really not sure," Asriel shifted uncomfortably in the swing as he took a deep breath. "I didn't really think it'd work at first. Now that it is, there are times when I want to keep going, but when I feel, I think about all the horrible things I've done, and it hurts so much!" As he went on, his breathing became more ragged and emotional as he stirred himself into a frenzy.

"Hey, it's alright!" I hurriedly cut him off before he could work himself up any further, and reluctantly placed a hand on his shoulder, "I'm not mad or anything." That too was a lie, but it wasn't like my feelings were easy to explain. Heck, at the time I hardly understood them myself.

"Why aren't you mad?" Asriel asked quietly as he timidly looked up at me, afraid to look me in the eyes. "You were pretty angry with me before, you know back when I-."

"Yes, I was!" I snapped, cutting him off once again before taking a deep breath to cool my temper, which had begun boiling when I thought back to that night. After giving my life so that we'd have the power I needed to free us all and make the humans pay, he had to go and be merciful, and throw it all away. Of course I'd been angry, even now a part of me was still angry. Rather than letting my emotions run wild, I closed my eyes and listened to the sound of my breath until I was under control.

"I owe you an explanation." I sighed and opened my eyes to look at Asriel, who was staring back at me nervously. He'd jumped halfway out of his seat when I snapped at him. Given how he'd always been so eager to please me, I supposed that wasn't a surprise.

"Asriel, on that night when we died," I paused, hesitating even as the words teetered on the tip of my tongue. It was hard to talk about these sorts of things after bottling them in for so long, but I'd come too far to get cold feet now. "When you died and your soul shattered, mine did too."

Somehow, forcing myself to say that was like lifting a weight off of my shoulders.

"So, you're empty inside too?" Asriel asked weakly as he slumped in his seat. "If I'd known any of this was going to happen, I don't know, maybe I would've done something different."

"You would've done the same thing," I said smiling as I slowly shook my head. "That's just who you are, I don't blame you for that. Well, I do a little but I'm trying not to." I leaned back and stared into the false sky as I let out a heavy sigh.

I should've forgiven him outright. How could I ever say I've changed when I couldn't even do that? Besides, I shouldn't have asked him to help me murder an entire village in the first place. But forgiveness was hard, I'm still not sure how Frisk made it look so easy.

"I was angry, I won't lie about that," I swallowed the lump in my throat and allowed the words to linger a moment before continuing. "When I woke up, it was like no time had passed for me. The last thing I remembered was thinking you'd betrayed me, and I just felt so angry!" Slowly I shook my head back and forth, as I struggled with my shame.

"I didn't mean to betray you," Asriel said sadly as he struggled to lift his head up and look at me.

"You didn't, you just didn't want to hurt anybody," I waved away the idea. Sure I was still a little angry, but I didn't want us getting caught up in the blame game again. It wouldn't have done either of us any good.

"Frisk woke me up when she fell on my grave," I quickly added, not wanting to give him another chance to derail me with another pointless apology. "I was stuck to her for awhile, I could even feel some of her emotions, so I tried to take control and influence her, but I failed. It's good too because, between my anger and not having a soul, I think it would've gotten pretty bad."

"I can imagine," Asriel said as he finally looked up at me with a sad smile, "I'm sure you know all the horrible things I did when I lost my soul."

"Yeah, but you always reset to put everything back," I shook my head tightly before meet Asriel's eyes. "Asriel, I wanted everyone to pay for what happened, you, the monsters, humanity, everyone! I'm not sure I would've put everything back when I was done either."

"But, you don't want to hurt anyone anymore, right?"

"No, I usually don't," I couldn't help grinning bitterly at that. I was trying to be good, but there were times when I still got angry. "I've had some bad moments, but watching Frisk has helped me put things into perspective, I guess."

"She has that effect on people," Asriel brightened and looked away from me as he let out a stiff chuckle. I wasn't sure if he just didn't want me to realize how much he liked her, but he didn't need to bother hiding his face like that. If anything, it was kinda cute to see him light up like that.

"Yeah, she's weird but she sure has a way with people," I shrugged at that and smiled as I scratched at the back of my scalp. "When everyone came to the surface, I thought it was only a matter of time before humans and monsters were at each other's throats again.

"I was afraid of that too, but it didn't happen," Asriel added with a shrug. "I wasn't there for that part, but it sounds like Frisk worked hard to keep anything from happening."

"Yeah, those first few weeks she was running all over playing peacemaker," I sighed loudly and shook my head in disbelief. Even after all this time, a part of me still couldn't believe Frisk had pulled it off. "I kept thinking that it couldn't last, but after the shock wore off, most people seemed almost happy to have monsters back."

"I couldn't understand it," I said with a quiet voice filled with the anger I felt at myself for being so clueless."Humans were horrible, they trapped everyone in a hole and stood by doing nothing while my parents-." I clamped my mouth tight before I could say anything else. Even now, I still didn't want to talk about what happened back then, it hurt too much.

We sat lingering in silence, neither of us eager to be the first to speak after I'd come so close to speaking of something I promised I'd never talk about. As I sat, a faint breeze began to blow, reminding me that a world existed outside of my own head. It wouldn't do either of us any good to keep silently sitting here, so I took a deep breath and forced myself to move on.

"It wasn't until Frisk went back for you, that I understood why none of it made any sense," I was starting to sound emotional, almost sad. Remembering how Frisk had found Flowey nearly frozen in the ruins nearly made something in my chest feel heavy. I knew it couldn't actually be sadness, but I still didn't like it.

"You really looked like you were dead, Asriel," I said with a catch in my voice that surprised me. "Frisk was so afraid of losing you that it was as if a part of her world would've disappeared if you died, and since I could feel her emotions."

"I'm so sorry!" Asriel said in a rush, his eyes widening as he caught on. "I didn't want anyone to worry about me anymore, but I hurt you both anyway."

"I'm glad you did," I said with a sharp shake of my head, "Even if they weren't my real emotions, I'd never been afraid of losing someone before. It made me realize that if other people could feel that way, but I couldn't, maybe it wasn't humanity that was rotten; maybe it was just me."

"Chara, I know you weren't perfect but you weren't that bad!" Asriel said emphatically as he threw his arms out wide. "You're my friend, I know a lot's happened and maybe you haven't quite forgiven me, but I still think of you that way."

"Bro that's sweet, but I'm glad I realized how messed up I was!" With a shake of my head I turned and pointed at myself with an apologetic grin on my face. "If I hadn't, I wouldn't be trying to be a better person, and I wouldn't be here to talk some sense into you!"

"Ah," Asriel said uncomfortably as he realized things were circling back towards him. "Thank you, but you don't have to worry about me, I'll be fine!" He tried, but Asriel couldn't seem to meet my eyes as he said this. My grin deepened despite my efforts; it was nice to see that he was still such a bad liar after all this.

"No, you won't," I said as I sarcastically rolled my eyes. "You were torturing yourself just now, badly, and that's not okay!"

"Yeah, but that's just because of the pills," Asriel shrugged uneasily and quietly turned to stare off into the distance. "That'll fade eventually, then I can go back to being regular old Flowey, and everyone else can live their own lives." I was sure that he meant that to be reassuring but as reluctant as he came across it was anything but.

"Do really want to spend the rest of your life feeling like this?!" I gestured toward myself sharply as I arched my eyebrows skeptically. "Being empty inside sucks, and we both know it!"

"Yeah it does and I hate it, but," He trailed off, his mouth hanging agape as he seemed to search for the words he wanted, "I dunno, if everyone else is happy, isn't it okay if I'm not?"

"No, it isn't," I said and shook my head before hopping off the swing and turning to look at Asriel with what I hoped was a heartfelt expression. "Asriel, you've always had this dumb idea that as long everyone else is okay, you don't matter. It's just not true, you do matter, people care about you, and you deserve to be happy!"

"But I don't!" Asriel nearly cried out the as he looked up at me with pitiful, moist eyes that were on the verge of tears. "I haven't done anything to deserve to be happy. I've hurt so many people, how can I even begin to make up for that!"

"You do it by moving forward," I said uncomfortably as I took a deep breath to gather my nerve. "We've caused a lot of pain, and we can't undo that. Despite everything, time keeps moving onward, so all can do is to try not to make the same mistakes again."

"That doesn't mean I deserve it!" Asriel sniffed quietly and broke eye contact before turning to hide the tears gathering in his eyes "If anything, I deserve to suffer."

"You have suffered!" I said with a drawn-out groan, "We both have, and I'm sure you're always going to punish yourself for this! We shouldn't forget our mistakes but do we really have to suffer for them forever, doesn't there eventually have to be an end?"

"I don't know," Asriel said with a trembling voice as he wiped his sleeve along his face, "all I know is that right now it hurts. Even if I get my soul back, how do I know it's ever going to end?"

"I get that, but do you really think you can go back to not caring anymore?" I brushed some stray hairs from my face as I looked at my brother with a thin somber smile. "It's been days since you've stopped taking your pills, and you don't act like you're feeling any less. I think you can choose to stay the way you are now or move forward, but you can't go back to how you were."

"I guess you're right," Asriel sighed unsteadily and clasped his shaking hands together to steady them. "It's just, it's scary to think about everything that could go wrong, it'd be easier not to try."

"Yeah, It's scary and doing nothing would be easier," I shrugged and turned around, "but then you'd never get anywhere." Slowly I took a single reluctant step forward, but it didn't go unnoticed.

"Chara, where are you going?" Asriel asked in a soft shaky tone that froze me in my tracks. ""We're finally back together again, don't tell me that, that you're already…"

"I don't belong here Asriel," I cut him off as I struggled to rally my conviction. "I've said what I came to say, and I think I've made my point. I should go before I screw this up!" As I thought to move forward, a clatter of chains could be heard and two white furry hands reached around me as Asriel firmly hugged me from behind.

"You don't have to go," Asriel said softly as I felt his body heat against me. "I know you've made mistakes, but so have I and it's not like I blame you for any of this!"

"It's not about that!" I choked out the words in a weak voice that made me want to cringe. I didn't understand what was happening. Normally I hardly felt anything at all, and when I did it usually wasn't very strong. However, being here with him when he looked like this made it seem like I could feel all those old emotions that I'd lost, all over again.

"I don't really know what I am anymore," I took a deep breath and tried to get myself back under control. "Whatever I am I'm not a part of your world anymore. Showing myself like this might have been a mistake because I'm just one more piece of your past you need to let go of."

"You're here now, and that's all I care about," Asriel said sadly as he reluctantly forced himself to let me go. I could've run at that moment, I could've left the dream and there wouldn't have been a thing he could have done to stop me. Instead, I wiped my eyes with my sleeve and wordlessly turned to look at my brother with a smile that I couldn't fully repress.

"Look, when I feel things like I am now, it usually doesn't last long." He briefly sounded sad as he said that, but quickly forced a slight smile onto as he continued. "Soon it's going to pass, and I'll go back to being a grumpy little flower. Would you mind staying with me until then?"

"Alright," I said after only a moment's hesitation, "for you, I think I can do that." I still didn't like that he'd seen me, that he might wake and cling to the false hope that I could come back and things could be like they were before. The damage had already been done, however, and with any luck, he wouldn't remember this clearly anyway.

"Great," Asriel said with a smile that seemed genuine, as he glanced back to the swings. "I kinda still need you to show me how these work anyway."

"Oh you dork!" I said with a laugh as I casually roughed up the fur along his head, "You really are still a kid!"

"It's not my fault that the underground never had any of these!" Asriel winced and pulled away from my hand as he said this, but gave me a broad toothy as he back off. "Besides, I am a kid, we both are!"

"Yeah, well you're more of a kid than me!" I shook my head and climbed back into my swing, only for Asriel to eagerly follow my lead a moment later.

"Okay, so you're going to want to kinda kick your legs like this."

"Good morning," Flowey stirred and blinked open his tiny eyes in a confused daze as Frisk's tired half-slurred voice tore him away from the last vestiges of sleep. Something felt off to Flowey, but he couldn't put his finger of what made it feel that way. Looking around the bedroom lit by the early dawn light, everything seemed normal. Despite that, he couldn't shake the feeling that something had just changed.

It was important, Flowey could feel that like an itch in his roots. It was like he'd forgotten something, but trying to remember what he'd forgotten was like trying to hold on to sand. No matter how hard he struggled the memory seemed to slip through his fingers before it was even fully formed.

Flowey almost grits his teeth in frustration. As a former Boss-Monster, he wasn't used to having trouble with his memory. He could recall seeing a playground and talking to Chara about something, but that didn't make any sense.

"Are you okay?" Frisk asked with a yawn as she sat up and looked down at her friend with bleary eyes that were normal for her this time of day. "You seem kinda out of it."

"Oh, and you look so sharp Ms. Bedhead!" Flowey snapped out the words without thinking and soon regretted them as he felt his guilt briefly flickering to life. Not for the first time, he let out a frustrated breath between his teeth as he as he struggled to deal with the emotional flare-up. He wasn't sure he was ever going to get used to them, especially since they seemed to be so random and unpredictable.

"It's nothing Frisk," Flowey said with a sigh, "let's just go get breakfast."

One unremarkable trip downstairs later, Frisk found her way into the kitchen and let out another loud yawn as she sat Flowey down on the table before taking a seat next to him.

"Good morning you two," Toriel said with a smile as she looked across the room at the new arrivals from her spot front of the stove. Brief as it may have been, Flowey couldn't help bristling as he felt the old woman's eyes lingering on him. Before he could say anything, however, she tore her gaze away and looked back down at whatever it was she was cooking.

"I hope you two have an appetite," Toriel said a moment later as she walked around the counter and sat down a plate full of light fluffy pancakes between Frisk and Flowey. "You two eat up, I will see if I can wake Sans before leaving."

"Thanks mom!" Frisk called out happily as Toriel walked off, before grabbing a fork moving a few pancakes onto Flowey's plate.

"So," Frisk asked casually as she finished moving pancakes, "are you still going to refuse to take your pills today, or have you changed your mind? As friendly as her tone was, she'd asked him that same question every morning since he'd made his decision, and each time it annoyed him just a little more.

Flowey opened his mouth to tell Frisk what he thought of her nosy little questions, but before he could utter a word he was gripped by an odd sort of deja-vu. It was the strangest thing, it was like he'd had this argument recently but he couldn't remember where or when. Stranger still, his mind kept drifting back to that strange memory of talking to Chara in the park.

"Frisk I'm sorry I just," he trailed off after realizing that he wasn't sure what he wanted to say. Part of him wanted to tell her that he was fine, that he didn't care, that she could take her pills and stuff them. Try as he might, he couldn't force the words from his mouth. It was only after he sat dwelling on this for several seconds, that he realized that it was because another larger part of him wanted to say something else.

"Fine, you win!"

"Wait, really!?" Frisk asked with a confused blink as the shock drove away the last of her morning grogginess. "What made you change your mind?"

"I'm really not sure," Flowey said as he narrowed his eyebrows in thought and stared blankly off into space. A moment later he shook off the expression and uncomfortably looked back up at Frisk.

"I think that there's no going back to how I was before I took those pills," he said the words slowly as if he was trying to decide how he felt as he was speaking. "Before I wasn't happy, but I was comfortable. It was stupid, but a part of me thought that maybe that'd be better than dealing with a bunch of painful feelings that came and went."

"Still, despite everything, time keeps moving onward," Flowey, blinked in confusion as he was struck by just how familiar that phrase was. Before he could think about it for too long, he shook his head and continued. "If I have to choose between feeling like I do right now and getting better, I'll choose to get better."

"That's, really grown up of you actually!" Frisk said as she raised both of her eyebrows in shock.

"Oh don't act so surprised!" Flowey said with a groan, "I am older than you, you know!"

"I know," Frisk quickly added as she briefly turned to hide the pleased grin on her face. "I'm just happy to hear you saying all this."

"Oh," Flowey blurted out dumbly as slowly shifted from side to side, searching for what to say, "you're welcome, I guess."

"Thanks," Frisk answered, no longer bothering to hide her grin as she shook her head in shock. She really wasn't expecting for so much to happen this early in the morning, but she was glad it had.

"So Flowey, do you want the apricot syrup or the maple?"

"Eww, Apricot is gross," Flowey said as he stuck his tongue out in disgust, "Maple all the way!"


	18. Chapter 18

Undertale: Long Road

By: Nathan Weaver

Chapter: 18

"Sans, are you even in there?" Pressing her lips tight in concern, Toriel rapped at the door once more to wake Sans for his librarian friend's funeral. When she came up, she'd assumed the promise of breakfast would wake him up. When it hadn't, Toriel was forced to knock at the door several times while calling out his name. At least at first she hadn't minded. Toriel was a patient woman and Sans had done plenty to earn her good will, but everything had its limit.

"Sans, this is getting ridiculous!" Toriel called out and waited a moment before sighing resignedly and reaching down to twist the doorknob. "I am sorry, but I am coming in!"

Truth be told, Toriel didn't know what to expect inside the room. Since Sans had moved in she'd left him alone and given him all the privacy she could. If it weren't for the fact that they needed to hurry to make it to the funeral, she wouldn't be here. However as the door opened, her eyes widened as she saw her friend violently thrashing on the bed in his sleep. It was as if he was desperately trying to twist his way free from invisible clutching hands.

"So sorry!" Sans muttered in his sleep between heavy labored breathes, "had to kill him, wasn't him anymore!"

Wasting no time, Toriel rushed to the bedside. She'd seen people having nightmares before, but something this violent was just scary. Bending over, she reached for Sans shoulders to wake him, only for the skeleton to lash out like lightning and painfully lock his hand around her wrist. Wincing, she tried to pull her arms free, but only succeeded in hauling the skeleton upright in bed. It was then that she noticed him looking at her uncomprehendingly, with a single blue fiery eye.

"It's alright Sans, everything is okay!" Toriel pronounced each word carefully, focusing past the pain as she talked down her sleep-addled friend. "You are home, you are safe and everything is going to be fine!"

Toriel had seen many things in her long life, but seeing Sans so scared was almost painful. How he breathed, the way he held his body, it was almost like watching a wounded animal. Despite that, as she talked Sans panic seemed to fade away, along with the eerie flickering glow of that strange blue eye. As it did, it was replaced by pure confusion as Sans looked around the room, blinking with dazed and disoriented eyes.

"Oh, oh jeez Tori, I'm sorry!" Looking down, Sans eyes widened and he abruptly released his grip on her wrist as if it was toxic. "Oh lord, you're hurt right, I didn't scare you too bad did I?!" The questions spilled out so quickly that it was a wonder they weren't entirely slurred together.

"It is fine Sans, truly," Toriel answered with a smile that twitched slightly as she rubbed at her tender wrist. "I am a grown woman, I can handle a few surprises!"

"Well still," Sans began before trailing off uncertainly, not sure what to say, "I'm sorry alright, I didn't mean to hurt you." The shame in his voice was so palpable that Toriel couldn't help feeling sorry for him. Whatever had happened, Sans hadn't meant to hurt her, she was sure of that.

"Sans, I'm not mad at you, I do not even blame you," sighing softly, she glanced out the window and took a moment to work out how to say what needed to come next. She knew that if she asked it'd sound as though she didn't trust Sans, and she did, she trusted him as much as she trusted anyone. Still, even if she trusted him didn't mean she didn't need to know.

"It's just, I hate to admit it but you scared me!" Toriel sighed and forced herself to put on a reassuring smile as she carefully sat on the foot of the bed. "This is selfish I know, but you need to tell me what happened."

"It was just a nightmare, that's all," Sans answered in a quiet uncomfortably voice as he slowly broke eye contact, "People get those still, right?" He was lying, or at least he wasn't telling her everything. Toriel would've known that even if she hadn't known him so well.

"Well they do, but you said you killed someone," Toriel finally managed to say as she nervously clasped her hands together in her lap. "Was that just another part of your nightmare, or-." She trailed as her words seemed to fail her. She didn't want someone else close to her to turn out to be a murderer too, she couldn't bare the thought of it. She wanted him to tell her that it was some sort of horrible misunderstanding, that it was just a part of his nightmare and not real.

"No, I'm sorry but I really did," Sans finally admitted, answering in a heavy voice as he looked back up at her and met her eyes once more. "I wish I could tell you that I didn't, but I can't. I've done some things I'm not proud of."

"I see," Toriel said as she took a deep breath to steady herself. "If you don't mind, could you tell me what happened?"

"I'd like not to if that's alright," Sans answered slowly,as he leaned forward and stood. "I don't want to lie or anything, but this isn't easy for me to talk about."

"Sans, please," Toriel pleaded in a voice that was calmer than she actually felt, "There are too many secrets in this house already."

"You mean, like the thing with Flowey?"

"Yeah, like that," Toriel began fidgeting at the mention of the flower. "What do you know about that anyway?"

"Not much," Sans sighed and shrugged as he opened his palms in surrender, "There's something there, but who knows what it really is."

"I see," Toriel said, trying not to sound disappointed until a thought struck her. "Were you trying to distract me just then?"

"I'm not sure, maybe?" Sans reached back and scratched the back of his skull uncomfortably before continuing. "Tori I know this is hard, but could you please just forget this happened?"

"I wish that I could" She frowned and took a deep breath as she was struck with the feeling that she'd betrayed her friend, but somehow she shouldered on. "If it were only me I could take that chance, but I need to think about Frisk. If there's even a chance something from your past could hurt her-."

"I would never hurt her!" Sans growled as he turned to glare daggers at her. As intense as his look was, it only lasted a moment before he let out a deep breath and seemed to deflate.

"I can see why you feel that way, I mean with your history and all," slowly he turned and took a listless step forward before looking out the window at the clear early morning sky. "Could you give me a little time, maybe get this day done first?"

"Yes, of course," Toriel agreed with a nod before standing to walk out of the room. Truth be told, Sans could've asked for a week and she would have agreed to it. She needed to know, and it was even possible Sans needed to talk about it. Still, even with all her reasons, she couldn't help feeling horrible for pressing things now of all times. Today her friend needed a shoulder to cry on, not an interrogation.

"I am so very sorry about this," Toriel said softly as she paused in the doorway, "You must think that I am horrible."

"No, I don't think that at all," Sans looked up and smiled weakly at her as she turned to meet his gaze. She could tell it was an honest smile too, though there was sadness in his eyes as well. "You're not being petty at least, you just need to know. I may not like it, but I can live with it."

"Thank you, Sans," she smiled and turned to leave, "Whenever you are ready, your breakfast is waiting." With that Toriel took one final step forward before gently closing the door behind her.

As strange as it was, Helis couldn't help thinking that Monster funerals were oddly beautiful. It felt horrible to think that, there shouldn't be anything good to come out of someone dying. Yet despite that, the way everyone came together to express their sadness and comfort each other; there was no other way she could describe that but beautiful.

Hidden behind one of the park's many trees, Helis had stood watching as all sorts of people showed up to mourn the librarian. Maybe it was because he'd been the first monster to die on the surface, but she was surprised by just how many people had shown up. There were even a few humans that arrived. That surprised her, after everything that had happened she'd have figured they wouldn't be welcome at an event like this.

Eventually, a large owl-like monster holding an urn stepped before the crowd, and they all went silent as he began to speak. From where she stood Helis couldn't hear what the man was saying, but the way everyone politely hung on his every word made it clear that he was important. After finishing, he turned from the crowd and kneeled as he poured the urn full of dust onto a book that had been nestled into a chamber in the ground. As this was happening, everyone held their heads low in a quiet, silent respect.

Had Helis not read so much about monsters, seeing all this would have confused her. Thankfully she knew enough to piece it all together. Monsters didn't have physical bodies like humans did. They were made mostly of magic, and turned to dust when they died. It was really very strange, their bodies were like a layer created by the soul to protect it. Yet, when that body is destroyed, the soul ends up damaged anyway, causing it to shatter.

As horrible as that was, it didn't mean a monster's existence came to an end. Shattered as their souls were, they survived as something called, essence. For some reason, that essence, the broken shards of a monster's soul, always ended up lingering with a monsters dust.

However, with time all those broken pieces would begin to come back together. Eventually, it'd all reform enough that it could move on to, well wherever souls went after people died.

This was why monsters were so careful with their loved one's dust. Why they insisted on keeping it somewhere nice, rather than some depressing old human graveyard. If a fractured soul was going to linger, it should at least be allowed to do it somewhere nice.

Having finished, the lead monster stepped back from the hole and rejoined the crowd. This was apparently a signal of some sort, because the moment he stepped back, people slowly began to leave.

It took awhile, nobody wanted to seem eager to leave, and a few people lingered behind to say their own goodbyes. Eventually, even the most reluctant visitors wandered off, leaving the hole alone and open to the world, at least until some people would come by later to fill it.

Several minutes passed before Helis left her hiding spot and slowly approached the site. At first, this was because she couldn't be sure she was alone and couldn't be seen. However, she soon realized that even if no one else was there she wouldn't actually be alone. There'd still be one soul here, patiently waiting for her. After all, that had been the entire reason she'd come.

"H-hello," Helis stuttered slightly and raised her hand in an uncertain greeting as she walked the final few steps toward the grave. "I'm, well I guess you wouldn't really know me would you?" Letting out a frustrated breath, she shook her head at just how clumsy she must have sounded.

"I should keep this simple," she swallowed and tried to ignore the lump in her throat as she brushed a stray lock of hair away from her face. "I'm the girl that murdered you."

To her surprise, there was no ghostly wail, no booming voice from the heavens, lightning didn't strike her down, there wasn't even a dramatic gust of wind. She almost didn't notice any change at all, except she couldn't shake the feeling that someone's attention was now firmly fixed on her.

"Yeah, I don't know why I'm here either," Helis said on impulse as she slowly raised her hands in surrender. She knew that this was stupid, that coming here wouldn't fix anything, at the same time she felt like she had to at least say something to this man. An apology, an explanation, she wasn't sure where to even begin but she owed him something, didn't she?

"I wish I could tell you that we had a good reason for doing what we did," she paused and pursed her lips in thought for a long moment before she continued. "I really thought we did, but I'm not so sure anymore." The moment the words were out of her mouth, Helis couldn't help letting out a bitter laugh.

"That sounds terrible doesn't it!?" Helis said pitifully as she buried her face in her hands to choke out her laughter. "You've gotta hate me, I can't even apologize right!"

"Human, I'm certain he doesn't hate you!" recognizing the voice, Helis slowly turned to see a lanky skeleton in a suit standing nearby. She knew this person or knew of him at least. He didn't seem quite as boldly colorful as when he was on television, but considering where they were, that wasn't a surprise.

"Please, be not alarmed my tiny friend!" the skeleton said in a showy tone as he held out his empty hands in surrender. "For I, the great Papyrus, uh didn't mean to sneak up on you like that!" For all the flamboyance the skeleton started out with, he seemed to run out of steam near the end.

"It's fine," Helis muttered as she as turned to hide her nervous face. "You got me at a bad moment is all."

"Yes indeed, sorry about that," Papyrus made an awkward show of clearing his throat as he continued. Somehow Helis got the impression that he wasn't all that used to giving out apologies. "I wanted to say a few more things so I came back, and well-."

"No, it's fine really," She looked back at the skeleton briefly before taking a deep breath and making up her mind. "I'm sorry to bother you, I'll just go."

"I meant it you know!" Papyrus called out in a clear confident voice that stopped Helis in her tracks. "Avery he doesn't hate you, I know he doesn't!"

"How can you even say that?!" Helis answered in a near whisper before turning back to face him. "You don't even know what I did to him, do you?"

"Well, no I don't," Papyrus scratched at the back of his head in thought, before shrugging with his hands. "Can't be that bad, you're here after all!"

"Of course I'm here," She said with a quiet sigh, "This is my last chance to, you know."

"To say you're sorry?" The skeleton offered with a melancholy smile before walking closer and turning to where his friend rested. "It's good that you want to apologize, but this isn't your last chance to make things right."

"How do you figure!?" Helis inhaled deeply as she narrowed her eyes at him. As much as she could appreciate what this guy was trying to do, he didn't know a thing about her! "He's already gone, saying sorry now doesn't mean anything."

"Of course it does!" Papyrus said with a chuckle as he looked at her with a smile, "It means you're sorry!" Despite the absurdity of the statement, Helis couldn't help letting out a surprised snort at the skeletons childish logic.

"You've got me there, I guess!" Helis said slowly, raising her eyebrows as she forced the smile from her lips, "thank you for that."

"My new friend, you are most welcome!" Papyrus smiled then paused briefly as a thought seemed to strike him. "Hmm wowie, what is your name anyway?"

"You want to know my name?" Helis asked nervously as she reached up and rolled a lock of hair between two fingers. She didn't think she was supposed to be doing anything like that, but at the same time, she couldn't think of a reason not to.

"Helis," she stated with a quick nod as she gestured toward herself, "my name is Helis."

"That's a great name!" Papyrus said with an enthusiastic pump of his fist, "It sound's so fierce!"

"Uh, thanks," she said with a grimace as she reluctantly turned to leave. She actually rather hated her name, for exactly that reason. "Anyhow I should go, I have things I need to get back to."

"Well goodbye then, friend Helis!" Papyrus grinned and waved as he said her name, seemingly happy just to have a chance to try it. "Oh, and whatever it is that happened, I'm sure it isn't too late to fix it. As they say, where there's life there's hope!"

"Yes, where there's life," Helis repeated with a thin fake smile. It was a shame, he'd tried to make her feel better, and she wanted to respond to that but he'd only managed to remind her just how badly she'd screwed up.

"Thank you, I'll remember that."

Minutes later Helis appeared out of thin air, atop the tallest skyscraper in the city. It wasn't her first time coming here. This had been the place to go whenever she felt like she really needed time alone.

At this height, it was no surprise when loud, salty winds began to blow through her hair. For Helis, that was part of the appeal. If she let herself, she could stand here near the edge and lose herself looking out over the blue ocean for hours, all while basking in that wonderful wind. But today she was in no mood to lose herself, she just needed a quiet place to think.

Before she could begin, her phone began to vibrate in her pocket, obnoxiously demanding her attention. With a sigh she fished out the device, only for her shoulders to sag when she saw that it was another text from Artur.

He wanted Helis to return, to help him plan another operation like the one that got that man killed. She'd hoped he'd come to his senses, but it had clearly been too much to wish for. Feeling tired, she carefully sat on the ledge of the roof before burying her face in her hands as her back faced the empty air behind her.

It was when she sat there on the edge, that she realized she didn't know what to do anymore. Even Artur admitted it was likely that more innocent people would die if they kept going. The thought sickened her more than she ever thought it would. But if she didn't go along with the plan, if she abandoned everyone and ran, the Archmage would surely find her. She had been the one to steal the harvester from him, and she allied herself with other mages in open rebellion. For all that there could only be one punishment, the very destruction of her personality.

Helis shuddered at the thought, her voice catching as horrible images raced through her mind. She'd once had a friend who had her mind wiped. She was a weak mage in the Apprentice Training Program, just like herself. They became close, they shared secrets, told jokes, even cried side by side when times got tough. During their time together they were a united front, they were each other's only allies.

Then one day, men came into class and took her away. They hauled her off as she kicked and screamed, and the staff stood by and told everyone that she just wasn't good enough. Helis had only seen her briefly afterward. It had only been a passing glance as they were removing her from the building. But, it was long enough for her to look into her eyes and see that there was nothing there. Her memories, her personality, everything that made her who she was, was gone.

Fighting not to cry, Helis bit down on her lip hard and focused on the pain until the heat building in her eyes began to subside. She felt trapped, and couldn't see any way out. She didn't want to kill anyone else, she didn't want to visit any more graves that she was responsible for. But she didn't want to end up like her friend. She didn't want to disappear only for a stranger to take her place. The thought scared her more than anything else.

Sniffling, Helis stared down at the phone as her fingers hovered uncertainly over digital buttons. Calling that woman would probably be a mistake, she knew that, but she didn't have anyone else to turn to anymore. It was only that thought, that knowledge that she had nowhere else to go, that finally pushed her into dialing the number.

"Hello, this is Luise Vacher," came a sharp female voice after the third ring. "Yes, that Luise Vacher, now who is this?!" Helis' spine went rigid at the intensity of the command, but she managed to open her mouth to answer.

"Uh, hi mom," Helis said in a quiet shaky voice, "it's me."

"Me who?" Helis' mother asked in an irritated voice that perfectly conveyed how she was rolling her eyes. "Why must I always remind you children to use your names?!"

"Helis," the answer seemed to spill out almost against her will, "it's me, Helis."

"Oh, this is rich!" she laughed deeply, the rich sound rolling around her throat like an icy melody. "Well, I wouldn't have believed that the traitor would come crawling to me of all people!"

"Mom I-."

"Don't you start that!" Ms. Vacher snapped hotly. "Do you have any idea of the shame you and your little pals have brought to our family!?"

"I'm sorry," Helis blubbered as tears began streaming down her face, "it's just, they were going to kill me, mom!"

"You failed the program!" Helis could practically hear her mother grinding her teeth over the phone before she let out a sneering chuckle. Then, you allowed yourself to be recruited by rebels. So congratulations, you're a failure and a traitor, you deserve whatever you get!"

"What was I supposed to do!?" Helis shot back as she finally felt anger boil up within her. "They were going to kill me. They were going to erase my mind so I wouldn't even exist anymore. Don't you care about that at all!?"

"No, I don't," Ms. Vacher answered in a cold, calculated voice that chilled Helis to her core. It was as though she wasn't talking about her daughter's life at all. It seemed almost like a business decision to her.

"You know how prestigious mage families operate, my dear," she continued in that same cold tone. "I've had so many children, and most of them were such failures that they had to have their minds wiped anyway. So why should I care about one more?!"

Though the world began to blur behind a curtain of tears, a small corner of Helis' mind could actually see her mother's point. With each generation, fewer and fewer children were born with the ability to use magic. It was so bad that mage families like the Vacher's didn't even bother to birth children anymore, they outsourced it.

They used sperm and egg samples and paid people to birth children in their place. Some families had dozens or even hundreds of children this way. Then after purging the ones that couldn't use magic at all, they'd hand over the rest to the Apprentice Program. However, if any of those that remained didn't make the cut, they'd end up like her friend.

Sure, all of this made sense in a cold calculating way, even she had to admit that. It kept magic and mages a secret, it made certain new generations of magic users were born, but it was just so incredibly cruel!

"Well, I'm sorry I didn't let myself get killed!" Helis snapped back bitterly. "Now, is there something else I can do for you?!"

"There is actually," Helis' mother said with a quiet cruel chuckle. "I can hear the wind, you're somewhere up high aren't you?"

"Yes, I am," Helis replied cautiously as her fingers dug tight around her phone.

"Good, now be a dear and jump!" Ms. Vacher practically growled the words through the line. "You'd do us all a favor if you did!"

Without thinking, Helis screamed and threw phone as hard and as far she could, sending it sailing through the air before it fell to the streets below. At any other time, she would've panicked to see her phone flying off where it could fall and hit someone. But it never even crossed her mind as she fell forward and sunk to her knees.

"What am I going to do!?" Helis asked herself in a quiet shivering voice that could hardly be heard. Without thinking, the young girl doubled over and wrapped her arms around herself tightly as she began to sniffle and choke.

There was no way out of this, that was the conclusion she kept coming back to in the midst of her turmoil. If she ran she'd be alone, the Archmage or one of his enforcers would find her eventually, and she'd be as good as dead. If she stayed, she might have a shot at living but only at the cost of other people's lives. No matter what she did she was sure somebody was going to die. So instead she did the only thing she could, and quietly cried on the rooftop.


	19. Chapter 19

Undertale: Long Road  
By: Nathan Weaver  
Chapter: 19

"Well, ain't this a mess," Sans muttered to himself bitterly as he leaned back to squeeze another squirt of ketchup into his mouth. Briefly, he wondered when he'd picked up this strange habit; the thought was his latest attempt at distracting himself in a long line of failures. Sure enough, despite the diversion, his mind went straight back to Toriel.

What would she think of him? How would she react when she learned he wasn't a simple lazy punster? Would he have to leave? Would she think that he's crazy? Would he lose one of his best and most dear friends? These questions nagged at Sans, keeping him from realizing how beautiful it was out here this evening.

Sitting on the step in front of Toriel's house, he could see twilight rays filtering through the trees, hear children playing in the distance, even felt a gentle breeze blowing through his clothes. And yet, none of that really seemed to penetrate. He saw it all, could file away every detail and later recall it all with a perfect computer clarity. But at that moment, in the face of all his worries, none of it seemed beautiful.

What it came down to was that he didn't know how to talk about this without sounding crazy. Since only the other survivors even remembered Gaster, he'd never talked about this with anyone, not even Papyrus. The whole thing was so unreal, who wouldn't think he was crazy, perhaps maybe even dangerous. That possibility consumed him so much, he almost didn't notice when the door behind him slowly opened with a metallic creak of its hinge.

"Sans," Toriel said tentatively as she leaned out through the doorway, "I hate to bother you, but are you alright? You have been alone out here for oh so very long now."

"Yeah I'm okay, don't worry," Sans brushed off the question with a quick wave of his hand as he turned to look at her. "It's been a tough day is all, I uh, just needed to step out!" He gestured at the cement stairway as he said this, which only served to cause Toriel's brow to crease as she silently winced at the pun. Even by their standards, that one was bad.

"I see," for a moment Toriel stood there hesitating, before gently shutting the door and sitting on the concrete step beside him. Sans couldn't have missed noticing how uncomfortable she was. Her spine stood stiffly, and almost intensely rigid. She kept opening her mouth as if to speak, but words never came. It was as if she couldn't decide what to say herself. After a few moments of that, she took a deep breath and visibly loosened up.

"I know what I said earlier, but you can take some time to sort things out if you need it," Toriel turned and smiled before continuing. "As you say, you and your brother have had a difficult day, I don't want to make that worse."

Toriel had meant this as a kind gesture, Sans was sure of that. The hallmarks were there, but the smile felt wrong. He knew she meant it to be reassuring, but it somehow seemed hollow and fake. It wasn't the usual warm, happy smile she used when they were joking around, this was something closer to what she would aim at strangers.

A cold weight settled in Sans chest, even as he felt his shoulders sagging. Seeing Toriel uneasy around him was like a slap in the face. He hated it, so much so that as she leaned forward to stand he suddenly knew what he had to do.

"Toriel, wait up," said Sans quickly as he motioned her to sit down. Looking up at her he could see she was confused by this. She probably hadn't expected him to resist being let off the hook. Truth be told, he could hardly believe it either. A part of him was shocked that he wasn't taking the easy way out. Despite that, with a quick shake of his head, he resolved to push forward before his doubts got the better of him.

"We might as well get this over with," the words tasted coppery and bitter, but he took a deep breath and continued. "I mean, it's not gonna get any easier, right?"

"Sans, are you certain?" Toriel asked as she looked at him with heavy concerned eyes. "I'm sure we could at least do this inside and-."

"Not inside!" Sans abruptly cut her off with a sharp cutting motion of his head, "I don't want Frisk to hear this."

"Right, yes of course," Toriel said as she looked at the ground sheepishly, "I should have thought of that, I am sorry."

"No, it's fine," Sans sighed deeply and closed his eyes for a long moment before opening them once more. It was strange, he wanted to have this done, he didn't want things to become more strained with each passing day. Still, even then he wasn't sure how to start things off. Every time he opened his mouth, the right words seemed to elude him

"Tori, I've never told anyone about this, not even Paps," Sans said in a low strained voice as he stared down at his hands. "After all this time I'm not even sure where to begin. I dunno, maybe you could ask me a question, give me something to get started with."

"Yes, I can understand that," Toriel said, her eyes widening slightly as she mulled over the request. "Well, what was the name of the person you, you know?"

"Yeah, that works I guess," Sans answered and took a deep breath as he briefly closed his eyes. "His name was Dr. Gaster, and he was my dad."

At those words, Toriel went as still as a ghost, the widening of her eyes and tension in her fingers were the only things to distinguish her from a statue. Sans didn't know what he was expecting exactly, but he wasn't surprised by this reaction. Of course, she'd be shocked and horrified. He knew how she felt about violence, and to learn he killed his father of all people. How else would she react?

Despite all that, Sans felt oddly relieved by his confession. The next few minutes would be hard, he knew that, but now that the part he'd been dreading was out there, the rest seemed less scary.

"Gaster was the Royal Scientist before Alphys, and a real brilliant guy!" Sans shook his head slowly as a bitter chuckle escaped his, lips. "We had an idea for getting past the barrier without using any human souls."

"What was the idea?" Toriel asked with a curious tilt of her head. Sans couldn't blame her for being curious about this, any monster would be, given how long they were down there.

"We were going to use a wormhole to get around it," Sans began before pausing to rethink his answer. "You see, a wormhole is kinda a hole that..."

"I know what a wormhole is Sans," Toriel smiled down at Sans arching both eyebrows as she let out a weary huff of breath.

"Right, sorry," slowly, Sans put up his hands in surrender and continued. "Well, we did get the wormhole working eventually. It felt like a miracle, but that's when everything went wrong."

Now that he was thinking back to that day, Sans couldn't keep his hands from trembling. Inhaling he squeezed his eyes tight, only for them to fly open when he was met with that horrible creature smiling down at him menacingly. He couldn't help gritting his teeth tightly, as his face burned with the shame of how much this affected him.

"Tori, something horrible came out of that hole," Sans hissed out of the words as quickly as he could and paused with a sniffle as he looked into her eyes. "I don't know what it was, or what it wanted, but it went inside Gaster and it took him away."

"Took him?" Toriel asked in a tight horrified tone as her eyes sat transfixed on her friend, "what do you mean by, it took him?"

"It wasn't him anymore," Sans practically shuddered as he said the words, "that thing was in control!" Toriel's eyes widened at the revelation, but even as questions began to form on her lips Sans cut her off and continued.

"He attacked the people at the lab, began killing them one by one," Sans inhaled sharply and buried the left side of his face in the palm of his hand. "I fought back, I didn't want to but what could do?"

"That thing was insanely strong," Sans said in barely more than a whisper, "I'm not sure how I survived, it even took my eye for crying out loud! But somehow, I ended up killing it instead."

Slowly, Sans released his grip on his face and stared down at his open palm for a long moment, before hissing out a sharp bitter chuckle between his teeth.

"Wow, I really sound crazy don't I?!"

Before he could say another word, powerful arms wrapped around him, pulling him into a tight embrace.

"Never say that, not ever!" Toriel plead firmly, her voice trembling with emotion as she held tight to her friend. Slowly Sans eyes went wider and wider. He didn't know what to make of this. He knew she couldn't believe him, how could she? His story was just so insane.

"How can you say that?" Sans asked in a daze as he slowly looked up at her face, "I'm a murderer, I killed a man nobody remembers existed! Doesn't that sound crazy to you!?"

"Of course it does, if you were anyone else I would not believe it!". Sighing, Toriel let out a deep breath as she shook her head in wonder. "But I know you, you are not insane, you are not a liar, and you are not a murderer!"

"Thank you," Sans' voice nearly broke as he choked out the words. It was embarrassing, but he smiled all the same. He couldn't remember the last time he'd ever felt this relieved. It was as if his whole body had been weighed down by heavy chains, and only now had they been unraveled. It was such a difference, that he could have actually sworn he was lighter.

"I'm Sorry," Sans said with a sniffle as he broke from the hug and sat up straight. "I was just so worried you'd think I was nuts, or that you'd look at me like I was some horrible murderer!"

"I see, I am so sorry I made you worry," Toriel shook her head and smiled thinly as she laid a comforting hand on Sans shoulder. "It's okay, I will want to hear more but from what you have told me, what you did was self-defense, not murder."

"I'm not so sure about that sometimes," Sans said as he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. "I keep thinking I could have tried something different."

"Of course you do!" Toriel said with a gentle smile as she slowly shook her head and placed both hands back in her lap. You are a good guy, and it's normal for good men to feel guilty and question themselves. In a way it is healthy, but you were not wrong to protect yourself.

"Thank's Tori," letting out a deep sigh, Sans smiled as he felt the last of his tension leaving his body. It was amazing, just how much he'd had pent up inside himself. "You really have no idea how relieved I am to hear you say all this."

"You are my friend Sans," Toriel said with a smile as she stared down at her lap, "I could not have told you anything else. Besides, if anything I should apologize for pushing you into this."

"Nah, don't worry about it," Sans grinned, making a throwing away gesture with his hand. "I understand why you did it, and it worked out well enough."

"Then, do you mind if I ask one last question?" smiling sheepishly, Toriel looked to Sans and nervously chuckled as she shrugged ever so slightly.

"Might as well!" Sans said with a deepening grin as he raised his hands in surrender, "It's not like I have anything left to hide." Sans knew that wasn't strictly true, he still hadn't told her about the timeline repeating, or the current business with the mages he was tracking. Still, he was being open by his standards, and he did want to tell her about all that, eventually.

"I hate to ask, but earlier, you said you lost an eye?" Toriel tilted her head upon asking the question, even as her curious eyes drifted toward his sockets.

"Yeah, that thing got off a nasty parting shot." Slowly, Sans reached up into his left socket and carefully pulled out a tiny round sphere with a glowing blue dot on the center.

Toriel couldn't help but gawk at the sight of the object. It was like a transparent glass marble, but in addition to the light recessed in its center, there were intricate black shapes set up around the light like an array of runes. What really bothered Toriel however, was the unshakeable feeling that it was staring at her.

"This wasn't meant for me," Sans let out a long, uneasy breath as he stared down at the object, minus one eye light in his left socket. "I was working on this as sort of a special side project when everything went wrong. I woke up a week later covered in bandages, it felt like a bomb had gone off in my skull!"

Sans couldn't help stiffening slightly at the memory. Nobody had been there when he'd woken up, and the eye showed him all sorts of things that he couldn't make sense of at the time. Somehow it was almost worse when the other survivors arrived and explained what they'd done. Their logic made sense, with the electricity out the eye would've died without a host, and he'd lost his.

There was something about the way they talked, though, something about the way they moved. It was subtle but all wrong. Over the next few days, when he talked to them they always carried on about Gaster. It was around then that he began to suspect they'd lost their mind. By the time he'd fully recovered, though, it was too late to do anything. They'd already disappeared.

"They put this in while I was under," Sans continued with a slight shake of his head. "It sorta makes up for the one I lost."

"What in the world is it?" "Toriel asked as she leaned forward and narrowed her eyes at the item in question "I've never seen a false eye like this before!"

"It's just a construct," Sans said with a quick shake of his head before moving to place the eye back in his skull. He blinked a few times before continuing. "It was sorta going to be a weapon, but we never really finished it."

"Well, that is certainly something!" Toriel said with a quick shake of her head, as she arched her brow in wonder, and worked her way back to her feet. "Well, I should really go make certain Frisk and Flowey get settled in. Will you be alright, by yourself for a while?" The reluctant way she asked made it more than obvious she didn't want to leave Sans by himself so soon. Even so, he wouldn't dare keep her from her parenting.

"It's fine, go!" Sans called out playfully as he made a throwaway gesture with his hand, "say goodnight to the kiddo for me, would you?"

"Yes, I most certainly will!" with a nod, Toriel turned and opened the door before stepping halfway inside. It was at that moment when she paused to look back to Sans with a gentle smile etched upon her face.

"Sans," Toriel began softly, "I hope you know if you ever need to talk, not just about this but about anything at all, I am always here."

"Thank you," the relief he'd felt earlier flared back to life in Sans chest, even as his grin deepened and became more genuine. It was almost hard to believe that he had such good friends. "We can talk later, you go on ahead."

With that, Toriel nodded and quickly waved with her fingers before shutting the door and leaving Sans alone in the last few vanishing rays of sunlight.

"Honey," Helis wearily called out as she appeared in a flash of green, "I'm home!" She frowned at the words. She had hoped cracking a joke would cheer her up, but calling the messy old room at their run-down hideout, home, only made her feel worse. It was true at least, the foreclosed house they were using as a base really was the closest thing she had to a home in a long time. True as it may have been, that didn't make her happy.

Shaking her head, she let out a long breath and began the long walk downstairs to find the food. She hadn't eaten well lately, and it was getting to the point where the hunger was turning into a gnawing ache in her stomach. This distraction may have been why she hadn't noticed Artur staring at her from the sofa as she was passing through the living room.

"I was worried," Artur called out in a matter-of-fact tone, causing Helis to jump in alarm before slowly turning to face him. "You didn't return your calls."

"Yeah, sorry," Helis replied in a quiet nervous voice, hardly daring to look the older boy in the eyes, "My phone, it kinda broke."

"Really?" Artur arched an eyebrow skeptically and slowly shook his head as he stood, "That's really what you're going with?"

"Yes, I am!" Helis said through clenched teeth as her face flushed with indignation, "that's what happened!" At least it was close enough to what happened, she didn't think he needed to know she'd tossed it off a skyscraper.

"Fine, if that's your story," Artur said in a tone that suggested it was anything but fine, as he held up his hands in mock surrender. "But, with the way you've been acting, can you really blame me for wondering? For all I know, you've already gone to the police, or maybe even made some unfortunate phone calls?"

Helis couldn't help shrinking back, her heart pounding in fear as he emphasized the words. It had not occurred to her that Artur might know what she'd done. After all, how could he? She was sure he couldn't monitor her phone calls, and he didn't have anyone that could keep up with her. Briefly, she wondered if maybe he could read her thoughts, but that was ridiculous.

"Oh jeez, relax!" Artur said with a chuckle as he made a waving away motion with his hand. "If I thought you betrayed us, do really think we'd be talking like this?!"

"I, but, then how," Helis continued, practically stammering as she struggled to work her flapping jaw properly.

"You're easy to read, and you're a really good kid!" Artur grinned as he reached over and playfully ruffled her hair. "It was dumb, but I can't blame you for telling the police where that man's remains were. Given time I might've done it myself, eventually."

After pulling away from his hand, Helis found herself blinking in confusion at the statement. He hadn't known about her phone call to her mother. Instead, he thought she'd risked revealing their activities by telling the police where to find the body of the man they'd murdered. She hadn't, she wouldn't have even known who to call. Not that she'd tell him this. She may not have planned to sell everyone out, but she didn't think Artur would be happy to know she'd called her mother.

"Thank you?" Helis replied uncertainly and cleared her throat before continuing. "I'm sorry, I just didn't think we'd have to hurt anyone."

"Yes, well that was unfortunate," Artur said with a sigh and slowly shook his head as he cast his eyes downward. "I didn't want to hurt that guy, but we all have to make sacrifices for the cause."

"Sacrifices, right!" Helis spat the words out before she could stop herself. Gritting her teeth, she took a breath and tried to control her emotions. She had learned the hard way not to antagonize more powerful mages, but it was hard to keep everything always bottled up.

"What about the next guy?" Helis added as she took another breath, "Are we just going to keep killing people until you figure out how that piece of junk harvester is supposed to work!?"

"Yes, that's the plan," Artur answered sharply and glared at the younger mage as he clenched his fists tightly. "We both know how sick mage society is. Don't you think fixing it is worth a few lives?"

"How would I know?" Helis began shakily as she stared down at her shoes. "I might have said yes before, but I'm not sure I can now. How can it be okay to trade one life for another?"

"It isn't only one life," Artur smiled soberly as he looked down at her, and reached out to gently cup her shoulders. "It's your life, it's my life, and it's the lives of everyone that'll ever be born into mage society, that doesn't meet up to their stupid standards!"

As Artur went on, his voice became more impassioned, and the gentle grip on Helis' shoulders grew tighter. It didn't hurt, she was sure he wasn't even aware he was doing it, but it put her on edge. It was only then when her guard was up, that she noticed the hard look in his eyes. They were not calm rational eyes. These eyes burned with an icy cold anger and somehow starred clear through her without once noticing she was there.

"You really do hate it all, don't you?" Helis' eyes widened as she heard the trembling words, but she couldn't stop herself. "The Archmage, magical society, the training program, you can't stand any of it." The moment she finished, his hands flew from her shoulders as if they were hot coals.

"No, I can't," Artur inhaled deeply at the admission and shut his eyes tight as he clenched his jaw. When he opened his eyes once more, Helis couldn't see any of the fire from before. She didn't know if it was really gone or if he was only hiding it. The latter seemed more likely to her.

"You had a friend that was mind-wiped, right?" Artur asked rhetorically, already knowing full well the answer. "Well, you're not the only one to have someone taken from you."

"I'm sorry," In the face of his bitter words, the whisper of an answer was all she could give. She hadn't known, had never even wondered to ask what motivated him. When she'd been recruited, she'd thought he was just taking a moral stand for people like her. Looking back on it now, she couldn't believe how self-centered that was.

"It's fine," Artur said in a low frustrated voice as he walked past Helis and slowly started up the stairs. "But the next time you have doubts, remember that if we can't make this work everyone that comes after us will suffer like we have. Do you really want that on your conscious?"

"I don't!" Helis called out as she turned to see the older mage pausing on the stairs. "You know how much I hate this! But can we really justify murder by saying it's for the greater good?"

"Yes, I can," Artur said with a stiff shrug, without even turning around. "When we finally have Core Magic, then anyone can become a mage. We'll be able to make our army, overthrow the Arch Mage, and change this world for the better!"

"For me, that's enough, for you, maybe it won't be," sighing, Artur turned and looked at Helis one last time, as his lips curled into a hollow smile. "That's okay, I trust you. I know you'll do the right thing when the time comes."

With that, the self-appointed leader of the ragtag group turned and resumed his walk up the stairs, leaving Helis alone with her thoughts and doubts.


	20. Chapter 20

Undertale: Long Road

By: Nathan Weaver

Chapter: 20

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Frisk asked as she looked past the curtains at all the kids milling about the front yard. "You could stay home, I'm sure mom would keep you company.

"Ugh, no thanks!" Flowey grumbled from his perch in her arms, as he glanced toward the same window Frisk had just been looking through with masked apprehension. "I can't spend time with her, Frisk, I just can't."

"So, you can't," Frisk repeated as she stared down at her friend with a curious look, "but, would you like to?" Flowey opened his mouth to answer, only to close it as his eyes slowly shifted from side to side in thought.

"Maybe, a little," Flowey said with a heavy sigh as he looked back out the window and shrugged. "But I can't let her figure out who I am; not yet."

"Well, maybe later then," Frisk smiled and hefted Flowey higher in her arms. Back before he had started taking his medicine again, he wouldn't have even considered revealing who he was. The fact that he had done so now, showed just how far he had come. Maybe it wasn't happening as quickly as she'd like, but he had definitely changed in the past month or so.

"It's alright," Frisk reassured as she reached for the door-knob. "I'll be by your side the whole time. If you feel uncomfortable, just let me know."

"Thank you," Flowey answered in a near whisper and bashfully turned to stare at the floor.

Smiling, Frisk quickly shook her head and opened the door before stepping outside. She was hit by a chorus of chatter and antics as she was greeted by a chaotic crowd of monsters around her own age. As she watched she could see that many of them were busy, packing food, clothes, or camping gear into cars, while the rest of the children drifted aimlessly.

All in all, this was easily one of the most hectic things Frisk had seen in awhile. She couldn't help but wonder if maybe the parents could do something to get it all under control. But, given that all the kids had already formed up into packs, she doubted that was going to happen.

When mom had told her about Asgore's end of summer camping trip it had sounded like a lot of fun. It still did, but now that it was happening she couldn't help feeling a bit intimidated by it all. In fact, as she looked out at all the unfamiliar faces she couldn't stop her lips from spreading into a nervous grin.

"Hey, is that Frisk!?"

"Oh wow!

"It is, it is!

Frisk turned to see three other kids running toward her. They were all monsters, but other than that they were each very different. One was a pink little bunny girl wearing a cute summer dress, and next to her was a tall girl made of green flames. Between those two, an insect-like monster fluttered about on gossamer wings. Peering more closely, she saw that it looked like a cross between a round beetle, and a droopy, depressed fairy, but it was still cute in its own way.

As they screeched to a halt before her, Frisk was struck with the sense that she'd seen each of these three monsters somewhere before, but she couldn't recall where exactly.

"Uh, hello!" Frisk said as she demurely waved at the trio with one hand, "well I guess you all already know who I am!"

"Of course we do!"

"Duh, you helped free us!"

"Yeah, you're a hero!"

"Hey, is it true that you fought with Mettaton on television!"

"Oh jeez, yeah I missed that too!"

The questions came in a rapid flurry, one after another. They came almost too quickly for Frisk to even tell who had spoken, let alone answer any of them. She was still struggling for footing when she noticed Flowey nervously eying the three, with an almost frightened expression.

"Sorry, could you three all take a step back?" Frisk quickly asked, almost without thinking. "My friend, he isn't comfortable around strangers."

Strictly speaking, that wasn't entirely true. While Flowey had never particularly liked meeting new people, he hadn't become this uptight around them until very recently. In fact, that was the entire reason she'd been reluctant to bring him along.

"Sure thing!" said the fire girl in a calm understanding voice as she took several long steps back.

"Yeah!" the rabbit nodded and quickly stepped back as well, though not nearly as far, "We aren't strangers though silly, we've met!"

"Yes, you said kind words to me in the Ruins!" the insect-like Whimsun said as it fluttered backward. "Thank you for that, by the way."

"We talked in Hotland," the fire girl added with a polite nod, "though, I didn't realize you were human at the time."

"Yeah, sorry about that?" the bunny girl grinned in embarrassment and shrugged uncertainly. "Back In Snowdin, I just thought you were some weird kid without fur, not that you look weird!" She quickly added that last bit as she waved her hands in a panic.

"That's alright, I get what you mean," Frisk said with a smile as she felt a surge of affection for these three. They may have been strangers until just a moment ago, but they were nice, and certainly seemed interested in getting to know her!

"Frisk dear," Toriel called from the other end of the yard amidst the thickest part of the chaos. "I am sorry, but could you come over here and give me a hand?"

"Be right there!" Frisk quickly stood on her tippy toes and called back before settling on her heels. "She needs me, but I'll find you all again later, okay?"

"Sure thing!" the bunny girl said with a smile as she bounced in place. "Oh, and I'm Bonnie by the way!"

"Whimsie," the small insect-like monster chimed in demurely.

"And I'm Fuku," Frisk was a little surprised to see the green flame girl actually bow as she gave her name. She seemed really nice but very polite and formal.

"And uh, I'm me," Frisk added with a tight nod as she lamented how awkward it was to introduce herself to people who already knew who she was. It was all a part of being famous she supposed, but she didn't think she'd ever get used to it. It was just so weird that nearly every monster already knew who she was, and that was practically everyone she hung out with these days. "Well, I'll catch you all in a bit!"

Waving, Frisk stepped past the small group and began walking across the yard towards the pile of camping gear that kids and parents were piling at the other end of the yard. Given that she kept having to stop for people or walk around them, it was surprisingly slow going.

"Sorry about all that," Frisk said quietly as she looked down to see the way Flowey was gazing at anyone that wandered too close. "So, what happened, you weren't this nervous around people before."

"Everyone seems bigger than before," Flowey muttered without taking his eyes off another kid that was passing nearby, "and they all look at me funny now!"

Frisk blinked in surprise at that. Except for mom, she hadn't noticed anyone looking at him differently than before. Yeah, people did stare at him, but that wasn't new. Maybe he was now noticing because he had gotten so much of his soul back? Or, maybe he had noticed, and just hadn't cared before. She couldn't know of course, but at least now she had some idea why his behavior had changed.

"Yoooo Frisk!"

Hearing her name, she turned to see Monster Kid, running up to see her with a huge grin on his face. However, as he got closer and saw the passenger in her arms, his smile became decidedly less enthusiastic.

*Oh boy!

Don't tell me you're bringing him!" MK said with a grimace as he narrowed his eyes at Flowey. "Couldn't you leave him behind this once?!"

*Fight, fight, fight!

"I can't do that!" Frisk answered as her eyes went wide at the sudden conflict, "it'd be cruel, and, he's like family. She muttered the last part in a near whisper as her gaze nervously fell to the ground. She knew that MK had a good reason for being upset with Flowey, but that didn't mean she wasn't to choose between them.

"Like family!?" MK repeated incredulously as he looked from side to side in open-mouthed disbelief. "What does that make me Frisk, I thought we were…"

"Um, excuse me?" Flowey said in a stiff stilted voice as he reluctantly brought his gaze up to meet the other boy. Both Frisk and Monster Kid blinked in confusion. Neither of them expected him to speak up at that moment, let alone for him to be polite about it.

It was only then that Frisk noticed how nervous Flowey was. He couldn't even bring himself to meet Monster Kids eyes. It was as if every time he looked up something pulled his gaze back downward. But eventually, he managed to meet his gaze and took a deep breath opening his mouth to speak.

"About before," Flowey began before pausing to swallow nervously, "I'm sorry."

Two sets of eyes grew as wide as saucers, as both kids looked down at Flowey in shock. Though Frisk knew he was getting better, she had not expected him to actually apologize to someone. Not yet anyway, and definitely not to somebody other than her.

"I was mad and said things that I shouldn't have," Flowey sighed and broke eye contact before his head sank tiredly, almost as if he was ashamed. "I know this doesn't make everything okay but, for what it's worth, you're not pathetic."

"Oh," Monster kid looked around in confusion, his mouth moving wordlessly as he struggled with suddenly having the wind taken from his sails. "Well, okay then." For a long moment after that, the three stood there in silence. None of them were sure exactly what to say until finally MK opened his mouth and broke the impasse.

"You know, my dad could probably use my help," Monster Kid said with a reluctant shrug as he looked across the yard at a man who could pass for an older version of himself. "Catch you later?"

"Yeah, sure!" Frisk smiled and gave a quick nod. Truthfully, she would have loved to talk more, but even before this latest shocker, it hadn't been the best time for it. "Besides, I should be helping out anyway."

"Alright, later then!" with that Monster Kid turned and began weaving back through the crowd towards his dad, as Frisk waved goodbye.

"Oh wow!" Frisk practically beamed as she lifted Flowey up in her outstretched arms stared at him with a big dopey smile. "You're just full of surprises today, aren't you?"

*I'll say. We didn't see any bloodshed or anything. So disappointing.

"Don't make a big deal out of it!" Flowey groaned as he rolled his eyes in annoyance. "It just needed to be said, alright?"

"Alright," Frisk repeated without breaking her smile she returned to holding him by her side. "But still, you did really good, I'm proud of you." She didn't see it, but Flowey blinked in surprise, only for a smile to spread across his face as he turned to hide his blush.

On his own, it might have taken minutes for Flowey to wipe away his grin and get his expression back under control. In that time, he was sure Frisk would notice and make this huge deal out of it. He wasn't sure why but the idea of her seeing him like that bothered him.

Luckily for him, it was at that moment that the corniest car Flowey had ever seen pulled into the driveway, and completely wiped the grin off his face.

"Is that Asgore?" Flowey asked in a high disbelieving voice, as he stared slack-jawed at the strange vehicle. "What's he driving?!"

"Oh, that's right," Frisk chuckled tightly at she stared at the red and white VW Bus the immense monster had stuffed himself into. The whole thing looked like a colorful milk carton sitting on its side to her. "You never did see his new car, did you?"

Before he could answer, the king of the monsters popped open his door and began the process of squeezing his way out of the vehicle. As roomy as a hippie van may be to other people, for him it was clearly more than a little bit cramped.

"Howdy!" Asgore yelled out as he stepped out of the car and the frame buckled at the sudden decrease in weight, "Are you kids ready to have a good time?"

Frisk grinned widely, as all around here other kids yelled out in reply.

"This sure is a lot of children," thought Asgore as he shut the car door and looked at the army of kids moving about Toriel's front lawn, "I wonder if we have enough chaperones?" They'd make it work, but as he walked around the car, he couldn't help wondering why so many parents had signed their kids up at the last minute.

"Asgore!" came the familiar voice of Frisk as she ran up to him with a smile, her little flower friend in tow. "Have I told you how much I love your car?"

"Why yes, yes you have!" Asgore said with a deep rumbling chuckle as he smiled at the carefully restored vintage vehicle, "I'm rather fond of it too!" He really was too, he knew that other people thought it was a bit much, but he loved how colorful and distinctive it was. Though he'd love it more if it was a little roomier. Even after customization, he still bumped his horns into the roof, sometimes. Thankfully, he'd had it diamond plated, so no damage was done at least.

"So, are you excited for this weekend?" Asgore asked as he bent forward and grinned at her happy face. "Don't tell anyone, but I've heard we'll be making what you surface dwellers call, s'mores!" At that, he scrunched his face up into a playful mock-wink and chuckled as Frisk snorted in delight.

"I'm really looking forward to it!" Frisk said with an enthusiastic grin, as she held up the flowerpot toward him. "And so is Flowey, really, he hasn't stopped talking about it!"

"Oh, is that right!" Asgore chuckled again and made a show of raising both eyebrows as he glanced down at Flowey with a smile. He didn't really know the funny little creature, but if Frisk wanted him to be a part of their game that was fine by him. However, as his gaze settled on him, he jerked away and stared down at the driveway in obvious discomfort.

"Yeah, that's right," Flowey answered in an uneven stutter, his eyes briefly flickering toward him before they snapped back to the ground. "It sounds fun."

Asgore blinked in confusion and slowly stood back to his full height. Maybe he was reading too much into it, but something about Flowey's behavior just now seemed, off. It wasn't just that he hadn't acted like this before either, though that was certainly strange in itself. No, what bothered him the most was that the way Flowey had behaved just now seemed, painfully familiar.

"Are you alright?" Frisk asked as she looked up at him and narrowed her eyes in concern.

"It's nothing," Asgore said as he snapped himself back to the here and now with a shake of his head. "So, are you packed and ready to go?"

"Got my backpack right here!" Frisk gestured to the heavy pink bag strapped around her shoulders and smiled. "There's a sleeping bag and a few other things back in the living room too!"

"Well then, let's get that loaded into the back!"

A short time later, Asgore found himself happily humming away as he loaded whatever people handed him into the back of his van. As it turned out, since he'd had the back seat taken out to give himself more leg room, he was going to be hauling quite a lot of the gear himself. He didn't mind, he had the extra room after all, and was quickly making use of it.

As busy as he was with his head buried in the back arranging luggage, he didn't notice Toriel slowly walking up behind him. That is, he didn't notice, until he heard her calling out his name.

"Asgore," Toriel said loudly as she cleared her throat, "we need to talk!"

Surprised, Asgore sat bolt upright only for his horns to slam into the diamond plate ceiling and create a noise not unlike hitting a steel drum with a hammer.

"Are you alright!?" Toriel asked with wide eyes and stared at her former husband as he clutched at his skull.

"I'm fine!" Asgore groaned in a low voice as he sucked in air, "It doesn't hurt, it just rattled me a bit!" That was more than somewhat of an understatement. It may not have hurt, but the echoes bouncing around his skull certainly weren't at all pleasant. Not for the first time, he wondered if maybe he should cover that ceiling with something a bit softer.

"So," Asgore began as he slowly stood upward, careful not to hit his horns a second time, "how can I help you?"

"Like I said, we need to talk," Toriel repeated as she seemed to look everywhere but at him, "but not here, let's do this somewhere private."

"Oh, I see," shrugging, Asgore nervously scratched the back of his head as he took a quick look around for somewhere that matched that description. "Well, if you have a place in mind, lead the way."

Without saying a word, Toriel turned and walked around the car, to the side of the house. Asgore quietly followed but didn't make it more than halfway around the van, before he overheard two parents talking heatedly nearby.

"Can you believe they're still doing this," said a feathery bird woman in a hushed tone that nevertheless carried. "With all these murders going on, you'd think the king would've canceled!"

"Shh, be thankful he didn't!" the other woman hissed as she held a finger to her mouth. "At least this gets our kids out of harm's way for awhile!"

Asgore stopped in his tracks at the words but otherwise made no reaction. Had that been why so many parents had signed their kids up late? Did they just see this as a way to get their kids out of the city while things were dangerous? It was surprising, but he couldn't really blame them.

Since that first horrible murder around mid-summer, more monsters had been killed every week. What started out as an isolated tragedy, had turned into a near panic. Even the news people had become frantic. Senator Crier was on the television almost daily, telling people these crimes were proof that monsters and humans couldn't live together. Even worse, people on both sides were starting to believe it.

With a sigh, Asgore shook his head and resumed following Toriel, having paused for less than a second while going over his thoughts.

One brief walk later, they both came to a stop next to the porch in Toriel's back yard. With a quick glance, Asgore knew it wasn't the most private of places to speak. Any of the kids could've walked in on them, but for now, at least they were alone. Besides that, he doubted they were going to be discussing anything all that sensitive.

"Well then, is Sans doing alright?" Asgore asked casually as he made a show of looking around the yard. "I thought he'd be out lending a hand, he isn't sick is he?"

"He is testing something," Toriel said with a sigh as she waved off the question. "Now, could we please get on with this? I did not call you back here to be social."

"Yes, I guess I did know that," Asgore took a deep breath and closed his eyes tight before slowly letting it out. Of course, he had known, she wouldn't forgive him so easily for what he had done. And yet, a foolish part of him hadn't been able to help getting its hopes up.

"So," he began as he looked up at Toriel with a wistful smile, "how can I help you?

"I need you to watch Flowey," Toriel frowned and quickly looked away from him as she answered. Asgore couldn't help but widen his eyes in confusion at the request.

"Of course I'll watch him," Asgore said with a disbelieving shake of head, "he's tiny, and the wilderness is no place for a flower!"

"That is not what I meant!" clenching her jaw tight, she folded her arms and met Asgore's gaze with hard, serious eyes. "I need you to watch him."

Asgore went still as he heard the steel in her voice. She was serious. Looking into her eyes had left no doubt of that. He hadn't seen her so intense since, since the day she'd left him.

"What's going on?" he asked seriously as he glanced over his shoulder back in the direction they had come. "What is it you even want me to look for?"

"I cannot tell you that," Toriel answered in as quiet and calm a voice as she could manage, though she couldn't hide the tightness in her throat. "I just need to know, if you see what I do."

"Please, what is it that you think you see?" Asgore asked in a quiet intense tone as he turned to look back at her. Normally, he wouldn't talk to Toriel this way, but if something was making her this upset he had to know what it was.

"What I see?!" Toriel choked out, her voice unsteady. The trembling tone halting Asgore, who was ready to pry her for more. "What I see is impossible!"

Asgore wanted to say something, he wanted to comfort her, but without knowing what was going on he didn't even know where to begin. In the end, he was never able to find the right words and was only able to stare as she slowly shook her head.

"Just, watch him closely," Toriel said again as she took a steady breath and regained her composure, "I am sure you will understand what I am looking for, very soon."

"Alright," Asgore practically whispered as he raised his hands in surrender, "for you, I can do that."

Shaking his head with a sigh, Asgore furrowed his brows as he tried to puzzle out what this could be about. There had been something about Flowey that had nagged at him, and maybe that was part of this. Whatever this ended up being, it couldn't be worth all this turmoil, could it?

"Thank you," Toriel said in a soft genuine voice as she uncomfortably turned her gaze to the ground. "I appreciate you doing this."

"It's nothing," Asgore sighed with a slow shake of his head before wondering how the parents were doing without him or Toriel to help with the children. Thinking back to how crazy things had been earlier, probably not well.

"I better get back," Asgore smiled and held up his hands apologetically, even as he began to turn around. "Go ahead and take a break, I'll handle things for a bit." Walking away as he was, he was unable to see if she had an immediate reaction to his words. However, before he could disappear back around the corner of the house, she called him out once more.

"Asgore," Toriel called out in a firm but not harsh tone, "if I could ask you for just one last thing?"

"Go ahead," Asgore looked back and felt himself relax as he saw Toriel smile, ever so slightly.

"School starts on Monday," Toriel said without breaking her smile, "If my little girl isn't back in time for her first day, I will hunt you down!"

"Yes," Asgore chuckled as his grin grew to match Toriel's own, "perfectly understood!"


	21. Chapter 21

Undertale: Long Road  
By: Nathan Weaver  
Chapter: 21

* * *

"What was that called?" Frisk eagerly pointed out the window towards fluffy white clouds before turning back to Asgore and smiling as she waited for the answer. They'd been playing this game since leaving home. She'd point to something she could see while they were driving, and he'd tell her it was called in the language of the monsters, back before the war.

"Oh, those?" Asgore asked, barely taking his eyes off the road as he gestured toward the cloud with his head. "We called that, scamaill." The ancient word rolled off the monster's tongue in a way that made her think of huge stone castles, and men riding horseback across the countryside.

"Scamaill," Frisk repeated with a grin, testing the word to see how the word felt in her mouth before searching for something else to point to.

They were well out of the city, driving along the backside of Mt. Ebott. As such, little could be seen that wasn't natural. She'd already pointed at some houses, the trees, and at the nearby mountain peak. So by now, she was having trouble finding anything she hadn't pointed to already.

Briefly, she considered pointing to a passing patch of wildflowers but decided against it for fear of drawing more attention to Flowey. Since they'd left, he'd mostly kept quiet while making himself at home on her lap. All things considered, she didn't want to disturb that.

With Asgore being so close, she knew the last thing he'd want is to do was draw attention to himself. At the same time, she couldn't help noticing how he would perk up whenever the older monster was talking. Thinking about that made her smile. He'd never admit it, but she was sure Flowey wanted to talk to him. Even after all this, he was still his dad after all.

"What about those?" Frisk asked as she pointed at a road sign for the town of Ebott. "What were those called?"

"What, road signs?" Asgore asked as he furrowed his brow in concentration. "You know, I don't think we had those actually!"

"Wait, so did you not have roads then?" Frisk slowly shook her head as her eyes went wide in disbelief. She was positive they had to have roads, how else could they have gotten around?

"Well, we did have roads of a sort," Asgore shrugged as he looked at Frisk with a sheepish smile. "I don't think you'd recognize them. They were just some dirt paths that connected a few villages. Nothing like these large smooth roads you have now."

"But, what if you needed to go somewhere else?" Frisk asked.

"We didn't," Asgore said with a sigh before quickly gesturing to the outside with one hand. "This land, this small corner of the world between the mountain and sea, this was only home we had ever known. I don't think a single one of us had ever left it before."

"I can't imagine that," Frisk said as she looked out at the vast scenery. It wasn't like she had seen that much more of the world herself. But, it was still difficult to fathom how small the world had to have been back then. For her, she could see so much of it through books, or the internet, or even television. For Asgore, this area had been his entire world.

"It was a different time," slowly, a thin nostalgic smile crept onto the monster's face. "Everything we ever knew and loved, it was all here. You would've been hard-pressed to find many that wanted to leave it.

"Still, didn't you ever wonder about going somewhere else?"

"We talked about it," Asgore said as he glanced at her. "But, it wasn't just a matter of picking up and leaving. I mean, we would've needed to build ships, figure out food that didn't spoil, how to navigate, and, we didn't have anywhere to go anyway."

Without thinking about it, Frisk began chewing on her lower lip as she eyed the older monster. The way he'd stiffened up as he had spoken, and tried to brush away the topic meant that this was almost certainly a sensitive area for him.

There was a part of her that wanted to leave it at that. What right did she have to dredge up memories he wasn't comfortable sharing. At the same time, she really wanted to know. She almost needed to know. These were her people now, weren't they? Maybe not by birth, but, shouldn't she learn as much about them as she could? She was about to open her mouth to ask just that when the former king of monsters quietly cleared his throat.

"Frisk," Asgore began before trailing off, his lips moving soundlessly for but a moment as he struggled for the right words. "Do you know that phrase, a watched pot never boils?"

"Yeah, I think so," Frisk said, widening her eyes as she was put on the spot. "Doesn't that mean something like food takes forever to cook while you're watching it?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Asgore smiled. "History is like that too, except, you don't even know if the stove is on. And, if it is, there's no telling who lit the fire."

"I'm not sure if I get it," Frisk said slowly, feeling truly confused.

"Yeah, it probably isn't a good analogy," Asgore shrugged and let out a long breath before he seemed to come to a decision.

"I don't blame them," Asgore began uncomfortably and grimaced, his lips moving wordlessly as he struggled to correct himself. "The situation back then wasn't anyone's fault, not really."

"Who's not to blame?" Frisk asked as she furrowed her brow in thought, though she suspected she knew the answer.

"The humans," the words were like a shameful admission out of Asgore's mouth, and he turned to give her an apologetic smile. "I should probably back up, shouldn't I?"

Frisk could only slowly nod in agreement. She could understand why Asgore might not want to sit and talk about everything humans had done in front of her. But, she still wanted to know.

"We wanted to move," Asgore began quietly. "We loved our land, but each year it seemed like we saw more and more humans upon our shores."

"But, I thought humans and monsters got along back then?" Frisk squirmed slightly. The idea that they had never truly been at peace, really bothered her for some reason.

"We did, for the most part," Asgore let out a heavy sigh and continued. "But, along with spices, tools, and whatever else they could sell us, they also brought along their stories." He smiled at that, but somehow it seemed almost bitter to her. "They'd tell of heroes and their triumphs over creatures much like ourselves. Tell stories of empires that stretched from one ocean to another. And, they told us of terrible wars and the deaths that had followed them."

"You, were scared of us?" the thought actually hurt her little.

"Not of you child, I would never be frightened of you!" turning, Asgore looked at her and smiled warmly, his eyes brimming with affection. For a moment, she thought he was going to lean over and give her a hug, but instead, he looked back to the road, seeming to have thought better of it.

"But yes, at the time your people were somewhat intimidating, " Asgore admitted as he spread one hand in a calming apologetic matter. "And, every year we were seeing more of them."

"So, that's why you talked about leaving?" Frisk asked with a slow nod.

"Not me personally, but yeah that's what started it," Asgore sighed tiredly. "But, when we looked for somewhere new, we found that we were boxed in, trapped. Mankind had already spread out and settled everywhere. So, all we could do was watch, and wonder if everything would ever boil over."

Moments stretched onward in silence, and it slowly dawned on Frisk that she didn't know what to say about any of this. She tried to imagine what it must've been like, but she couldn't get a handle on it. What must it have felt like, to see the world stretching out before you while knowing that it all belonged to something else? At the very least, it seemed cruel to her.

As she sat trying to process this new revelation, a high-pitched siren began to wail somewhere off behind her. Her eyes went wide as she turned to catch sight of the flashing lights of the police car, and the officer motioning for Asgore to pull over.

"Oh," Asgore said uncomfortably as he slowed the vehicle and gave Frisk a reassuring look. "Don't worry, it's probably nothing."

Frisk knew he was right, but at the same time as the car slowly came to a stop, she couldn't help feeling a growing sense of dread. She knew It was stupid to feel that way. It wasn't like she'd done anything bad, not recently at least. But, for some reason, she couldn't help thinking about the time she'd walked out of a store with a pair of socks when she was little.

Shaking that crazy thought from her head, she looked down to check on Flowey. As he looked back up at her, she gave him a reassuring smile. All things considered, he seemed to be fine, if maybe a bit tense. Still, in situations like this, it was best to keep an eye on him.

Careful not to clip his horns, Asgore poked his head out of the window and peered back at the approaching policemen. "Something I can help you with, officer?"

"Naw, nothing like that," said the rotund mustached man as he walked up to the car while eyeing the van in admiration. "I just thought I'd let you know that…" The officer froze, his mouth hanging open as he stared at Asgore and blinked.

"Let me know what?" Asgore prompted as he brought a hand to his face and struggled not to grin.

"Oh, yeah right!" the officer quickly shook his head and let out a nervous chuckle. "Your car, I saw it leaking fluid back there."

"Really?!" Asgore furrowed his brows and looked back at his vehicle. "Oh darn, I just had this thing worked on too!"

"It happens," the rotund officer said as he scratched his neck looked back to Asgore with a goofy grin. "Tell you what, if you follow me I'll lead you to a shop to get it fixed. Sound good?"

"Sure thing!" Asgore said as he motioned ahead, "lead the way."

"So, we're making a stop?" Frisk asked a moment later as Asgore pulled out to follow the officer. "Are we going to be late now?"

"We should be fine," Asgore answered. "I bet we'll be in and out of that town in no time."

* * *

"What the heck is that supposed to mean!?" Flowey asked with an annoyed snarl as he stared at the sign hanging on the door.

"Will not serve children," Frisk read the sign aloud in response before looking through the cafe's window at the empty seats inside. "I guess it means we can't eat here."

"Well, that's stupid!" Flowey rolled his eyes and huddled down into his pot with a disappointed sigh. "What the heck are we supposed to do now?"

Frisk sighed and she thought back to why they were out here in the first place.

As it turned out, the shop the policemen had led them to was, for all its other virtues, an utter dive. The waiting room seats were torn up, most of the ceiling tiles were missing, and it smelled like oil and some sort of nasty ash. Just thinking back to it made Frisk itch uncomfortably. Still, she would have put up with it if Flowey hadn't started asking about food a few minutes after walking in.

"Oh, are you hungry?" Asgore asked with a smile as he pulled out a wad of bills from his wallet. "Why don't you two go grab something. I'll join up with you in a bit."

Frisk wasn't about to pass up a chance to get out of that place, even if Asgore had to stay behind and talk with the mechanic. So here they were minutes later, standing on the front step of a nice little shop with expressions of disappointment on each of their faces.

"Well, that's off!" Frisk said as she stepped away from the door. "Wanna walk around until Asgore's done?"

"You're doing all the work!" Flowey sighed in frustration before turning to look up at her. "Hey boss, how about letting me out of this stupid pot for once?"

"You're not a prisoner or anything!" Frisk said, her voice rising defensively. "Just, could you hold on till we get to the campsite? With all this pavement, this isn't really a good place for that."

"Fine, you little dictator!" Flowey grumbled almost beneath his breath. "But I better get to move around when we get there. I deserve to spread these roots!"

"Oh, you most definitely do!" Frisk grinned and reached for the button to the crosswalk as she reached the curb. Standing there, it occurred to her that if she turned right she'd eventually find herself back in front of the old Ebott city orphanage.

Frowning, she pushed the thought away and resumed walking, her legs moving with a bit more urgency than they had before. Not a minute and one block later, Frisk reached for the button to the next intersection when Flowey spoke up, pulling her mind away from what she was doing.

"Frisk," Flowey began in a puzzled tone. "What's that?"

"What, the park?" Frisk looked towards where he was pointing, only to narrow her eyes in interest. In the middle of the park stood several tall bronze shapes surrounded by golden flowers.

"Oh," she answered with a shrug. "I think those are new, why?"

"Seems familiar," Flowey muttered in a thoughtful daze before snapping himself back with a shake of the head. "C'mon, I wanna take a closer look."

"Okay, if you say so," Frisk said and crossed to the side of the street with the park.

In truth, calling it a park was more than a little bit generous. It was really more of an empty lot between two streets that the town had decided to pretty up. There were a few picnic tables and some scrawny pine trees, but aside from that, it was almost bare. Or it would've been, had it not been for what was arranged at it's center.

As Frisk approached, she began feeling a sense of unease as she recognized the figures.

They were all statues of children. There were six in total, arranged in a circle, their hands interlocking as they stared blankly off into space with lifeless unseeing eyes.

Regardless of the reason the statues were built, Frisk couldn't help thinking that they were unnerving. In fact, she idly wondered if that was why the park was empty in the middle of the day like this. But, maybe it was just her. The fact that she'd met these kids, but hadn't seen what they looked like until now, didn't exactly make her feel happy.

Gazing downward, she read aloud the words inscribed on a plaque at the bottom of the platform. "To the ones lost in legend, but not in memory. Six lives taken from a community that loved them. May they forever know peace." And, under that, the date of each child's disappearance was carefully listed. They'd all vanished in only a few short years.

Frisk frowned and bit her lip as she stood staring at the plaque. She hadn't thought about it before, but of course, the other kids that fell underground before her had come from here. The town would never have learned what happened to all the children that had disappeared. But clearly, the people living here had decided they needed to be remembered.

It was then, as she stood there looking over the memorial, that she felt Flowey begin to shake and shudder in his pot.

"No," Flowey muttered quietly between ragged breaths. "I don't want to do this!"

"Flowey?" Frisk looked down at her passenger and furrowed her brows in alarm. She wondered if maybe he was having a bad reaction to seeing the memorial, but he wasn't even looking at it. Instead, his wide eyes swept all around him, left, right, and back again. It was as though he was desperate to see in every direction at once.

"It hurts," Flowey hissed out through tightly-gritted teeth. "Chara, it hurts so much!"

*Oh crap.

"What's wrong!?" She demanded, and her heart pounded when she got no response. It was as though Flowey didn't see her. Even when his eyes passed over Frisk it was like he was looking past her. This didn't make any sense to her. What was happening to him, and why was he calling out for Chara of all people!?

"Please Chara, I can't do this!" Flowey clutched tightly at his stem as his voice shifted to Asriel's. "I just want to go home!"

The blood drained from Frisk's face as she was hit by a sickening realization. Here they were in the middle of the town closest to the mountain, surrounded by golden flowers. This wasn't just a park, this was where Asriel had been attacked and fatally wounded.

"Asriel, it's okay!" Frisk said in a panic as she pulled Flowey close. "It's going to be alright!" In her mind that became her mantra, her hymn, the magic words to keep herself together. As she ran she didn't even notice when she began repeating them out loud.

A short time later, she knelt between two buildings in an out-of-the-way spot across the street.

"It's going to be alright!" Frisk repeated again as she sat against the building and rested Flowey on her lap. "Please, please just be alright!" She struggled to keep her voice from quivering as her fingers dug tightly into his pot.

She wasn't sure what was going on inside his head, but hopefully getting him away from there would make it better. Maybe that was stupid, maybe it was wishful thinking and she should be calling Asgore. But, even as these thoughts raced through her mind she felt Flowey stirring.

"Chara?" Flowey asked uncertainly, still speaking in Asriel's voice as he slowly stared up at her. For a moment, she was certain he still didn't see her. But then his eyes seemed to focus in and he blinked in recognition.

"Frisk?" his voice broke, and tears began seeping from his eyes. "Oh god, what did I do!?"

"You didn't do anything," Frisk said with a slow shake of her head. "And, it wasn't your fault, I should have realized where we were."

"Well I didn't," Flowey sniffled and shook his head. "I don't know, it was so dark before, and it all happened so fast!"

"Do, you want to talk about it?"

"No," but although he said that he nodded in agreement.

"I was back there all over again," Flowey began, his stem heaving as he struggled to control his breath. "One second I was with you, and then I was surrounded by all these people. I couldn't see them, but they kept screaming and calling me a murderer!"

"I'm sorry," Frisk muttered, not only because she was sorry it had happened, but also because she wasn't so sure she should've asked. It seemed like the thing to do, but there was so much pain in his voice. But, rather than stopping, Flowey slowly shook his head and continued.

"That's when I realized I couldn't kill them, I think," Flowey said with a sniffle before taking a deep breath. "None of it felt real before then. The humans were just numbers, kill six and we're all free! It was easy to say that. But, once I saw they were just scared people I just couldn't anymore."

"That's not a bad thing," Frisk offered quietly. "You weren't wrong for wanting to spare them."

"I know that now," Flowey said with a shudder. "But, Chara was so mad! She kept screaming in my head, telling me I was a traitor, trying to force me. I wanted to go home, but she wouldn't let me!"

*Yeah, I was kind of a piece of work back then.

"And then," Flowey paused, the words catching in his throat as his breath came faster and faster "there was this loud noise, and something bit into me!"

Frisk clasped her hand around her open mouth in shock. He'd been shot. Someone in that crowd, without knowing what was going on, aimed a barrel at him and fired. She knew that to them it had to have looked bad. She even understood that they were scared. But right then, she couldn't help hating whoever pulled that trigger.

"I still can't understand it," Flowey said as he struggled to hold back his tears. "Why did so many bad things have to happen? Why did we both have to be such idiots!?"

Without thinking, Frisk threw her arms around Flowey and drew him tight against her. She would not have done this at any other time, wouldn't even have considered it. But, right then and there, she wasn't sure it was possible to do anything else.

"W, what are you doing?" Flowey asked as he stiffened in alarm.

"I'm hugging you," Frisk answered almost in a whisper.

"Why?!" Flowey sobbed in confusion and went limp in her arms. "Why are you always being so nice to me!?"

Suddenly, Frisk was back in the empty home she grew up in, staring up at the closed front door and wishing her mother would walk through it. Then she was in her room, looking down through the window and hoping she would see a familiar car coming down the street. Finally, she leaned into the cool iron gates of the orphanage. Her forehead pressing against the rods as droplets of rain began to fall from oppressive gray skies.

"Momma," Frisk muttered to herself. "Don't you know I'm right here waiting for you, momma?" There was no answer, save for the echoing rumble of thunder in the far-off distant sky.

"I've been good!" she protested weakly. "I've done everything the grownups asked. I do all of my chores, I eat my vegetables, and I really try to get along with the other kids. But I don't think they like me much." Slowly, her gaze sank down until she stared at the pavement. She stayed there waiting patiently for some sort of sign, for someone to tell her that she'd indeed been good. She kept waiting.

"You're coming to get me, right?" the words were scarcely more than a breath. "I don't know what I did to make you so angry, but I won't do it again!"

She waited again, yet there was still no answer.

"Why?" Frisk asked with a sob as tears mixed with the rain. "Why can't we just be a family again?"

Standing in the rain, she waited for an answer as her chest began to heave. She waited for someone to tell her it was okay, and take her someplace where it was warm and safe. She waited, while wordlessly crying out for somebody to make it all okay.

But nobody came.

"Because I get it," tears ran down Frisk's face as she held Flowey tight. "And, nobody should have to go through this alone!" The words were not enough, and yet somehow it seemed like they were entirely too much at the same time. Opening her mouth, she searched for something better to say but closed it a moment later upon finding nothing.

There was so much she wanted to tell him. That it was all okay, that they were so alike in some ways, and she understood what he was going through. But she didn't know how to say any of it right. All she could do was sit there and comfort him as their tears intermingled, and hope that it would somehow be enough. That somehow, that alone would get her feelings across.

As she felt Flowey grab hold of her arm and squeeze, she became a little more confident that it would.


	22. Chapter 22

Undertale: Long Road

By: Nathan Weaver

Chapter: 22

* * *

"Please!" the bear monster begged as he backed into the dimly lit concrete wall of the parking garage. "Y-you can't do this!"

"I'm pretty sure we can!" Nigel said with a smug grin as he walked along Arturs side toward the fuzzy round man. As the panicked monster tried in vain to disappear into the wall, his wide eyes swiveled to track all the vicious creatures the mage had summoned.

The creatures were the same beasts Nigel always conjured for these jobs; small hissing demons that moved on all fours like monkeys and were covered in fire and black scales. Helis wasn't sure if Nigel liked these creatures, or just couldn't summon anything else. Either way they were truly savage and deadly.

"Now-now, we aren't here to gloat!" Artur chided with a click of his tongue as he walked through the pack of imps and laid a friendly hand on the man's shoulder. "Don't worry, nobody's here to hurt you. Not me, my friends, or even these creatures here. In fact, we actually need your help with something!"

Helis took a deep breath and chewed on her lip as she approached the others. They'd waited all day to spring this ambush. They had spent so long talking about how this would be different that none of them had noticed when the sun vanished from the sky. But, despite all that, already this job felt almost sickeningly like all the others.

The monsters never fought back, they were too scared for that. Nigel seemed to enjoy that fear, while Artur always put on airs and pretended to be the voice of reason. That was always the way it went. It was like an act in a play, an act that kept on going right up until a needle was buried into a living person's flesh.

"I have a family!" the furry man croaked, his eyes locking on the teenaged Artur as he tried to shrink away. "Just let me go this once, please!"

"Don't you worry, we will!" Artur smiled softly as he pulled the steely tube of the harvester from his pocket. "But first, we need a little something from you." With that, a long ivory needle shot out from the end of the cylinder with a slick metallic click, and the monsters eyes somehow went even wider.

"Maybe we should let him go," Helis said nervously, hope kindling in the monster's eyes as he heard her words. "I mean, if he has a family then shouldn't we…"

"He's seen us!" Artur growled through his teeth, his mood suddenly souring as he turned to glare at her. He clearly didn't take well to being questioned in front of others. "We can't let him go now, not until we get what we need!"

Helis opened her mouth to argue, but swallowed and decided against it upon seeing boiling anger in the older boys eyes. Besides, Artur was right. He had seen them, if he went to the police they could bring in an artist to get pictures of what they looked like. After that, it'd only be a matter of time before the Arch Mages enforcers found them. If that happened, they'd be as good as dead.

"Alright, I get it!" Helis found her heart sinking as she saw the man's eyes filling with despair. "Just, please be extra careful this time, okay?"

"Fine!" Artur said with an annoyed groan as he turned back and lifted the needle-sharp artifact high. "Now, hold very still!" As the blade plunged down, Helis couldn't stop herself from flinching from what she was sure would be a grizzly scene. But, before the needle moved more than a few inches, a new voice rang out.

"Hey Blair, that you dude!?"

Everyone turned, following the voice to it's source until they all stared at a stocky short skeleton man in a blue coat. What was more shocking was that he hardly seemed to notice the mages were there. He just kept casually walking over in a relaxed, easy-going manner, only stopping when he was a few car-lengths away.

"Sans!?" the monster named Blair answered back, his tone an obvious mixture of surprise, confusion and relief.

"Sup!" Sans said as he held up his hand and waved lazily at his friend. It was only then that Helis noticed he was holding something in his other hand. It looked like a tablet with a bunch of random junk duct-taped onto it. She didn't know what it was, but she'd never have guessed he'd used it to track them via their magic use.

"Oh you know," the bear said as he looked at his captors anxiously. "It could be better."

"Excuse me!" Artur said through a strained smile as he glared back at the skeleton. "I'll have you know, your friend and I were right in the middle of something!"

"Really?" Sans stopped several paces away and looked around at the mages, almost as if he was just now noticing them. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't come at a bad time did I?"

"Oh no, you're fine!" Blair blurted out as he grew visibly more frantic. "But you know, if you could give me a hand here I'd really appreciate it!"

"Oh for the love of Mike!" Artur grumbled quietly and pressed a palm to his forehead as he slowly sucked in a breath. "Alright, that's it, Nigel!"

"Actually, it's Ashbourn now," Nigel corrected, reminding him of the latest name he'd given himself.

"Don't care!" he practically screamed through clenched teeth, his eyes going wild as he aimed a finger at the skeleton. "Just get him, now!"

Grinning, Nigel turned and gestured toward Sans with a sweeping wave of both hands. As he did, his creatures burst forward in a flurry of motion; charging the skeleton on all fours as they let out a chorus of shrieks and hisses.

Helis didn't see exactly what happened next, but before she knew it, all the creatures flew up into the air like they were falling. At the same instant, ivory shafts erupted out from the ceiling, just in time for the summons to be impaled upon them. With pained cries the beasts burst apart, their bodies disintegrating in a cloud of ash and fire as they were skewered.

"Wow, creepy!" Sans said as he stared wide-eyed at the ashes falling from above like black snow. "What were those supposed to be anyway!?"

"Okay, what was that!?" Nigel asked incredulously, ignoring Sans question as he turned to their leader.

"Gravity manipulation," Artur answered with a crooked grin, his eyes lighting up with sudden interest. "It's a rare talent, but I don't think it'll help."

"Right!" Nigel held out his hands as flames ignited in his palms and engulfed him clear to his wrists. With a toothy grin, the mage pushed forward and volcanic pillars of fire exploded out, racing directly towards Sans' head.

The shadowy corners of the room vanished under the blinding onslaught. At that moment, Helis thought it was over. But, just as she'd written off the strange monster, he languidly slipped aside from the attack, dodging it entirely.

"Whoa!" Sans yelped as he turned and watched the errant flame plow into a sedan, partially melting the car even as it was flipped into the air. "I love a warm welcome, but simmer the heck down!"

It was then that Artur covertly glanced toward Helis, and wordlessly gestured toward the intruder with a motion of his head. Discreet as it was, she knew what he wanted from her. She didn't like it, but she'd known she'd have to fight eventually.

"Did you just make a freaking pun!?" Nigel growled as he clenched his fists tightly.

Before Sans could answer, Helis teleported behind him in a flash of light, her body twisting as she swung a baseball bat directly at the Skeleton. At this angle she was sure the attack would hit. But, as the weapon blurred through the air, the monster took a single step forward, moving just out of range as the blow slipped past him harmlessly.

As her swing flew wide, she struggled to keep her balance and not topple over. But before she could recover, the skeleton spun and gave her a push; sending her stumbling forward several steps before she finally fell to the ground.

Frantically she scrambled back to her feet, expecting an attack to land on her prone form at any moment. But as she stood and held out her bat, she was shocked to see no attack coming. Instead, the skeleton just stood in the same spot as before, studying her intently before turning back to the other mages.

Helis couldn't have known, but right then Sans was floored by how much she looked like Frisk. They were different people obviously. But, he couldn't look at this kid and not think of her. It did absolutely nothing to make him happier about fighting a bunch of children.

"Look," Sans said with a weary sigh. "It's been fun and all, but I'm really not feeling up to this! Are you guys going to let my friend go or not?"

"I'm afraid that just can't happen!" Artur answered as he threw out his hands in mock helplessness. "Now that you've both seen our faces, we can't let either of you go!"

"Welp, I had to try!" Sans said with a chuckle. "But remember, I gave you a chance to walk away!"

With that the skeleton disappeared in a flash of blue light, only to reappear next to Blair. Before anyone could react, he laid a hand on the other monster's shoulder and waved before blinking away in another flash. He reappeared facing the mages near where he started, with a confused passenger in tow.

"Well, okay then!" Sans called out between labored breaths. "I'm glad we could have this talk. Let's never do it again!"

"The hell!?" Nigel bellowed in disbelief as he stared slack-jawed. "All that showing off and you're what, not even going to fight!?"

"I don't have to!" Sans chuckled at that, his grin somehow becoming even deeper. "You guys said it, we've seen your faces now. There's nothing stopping us from going to the cops!"

"That doesn't mean they can stop us!" Artur said through clenched teeth. "They don't even know where to look!"

"Yeah, about that," Sans said, as he finally held up and gestured toward the device he'd been carrying. "If you mean that dive with a barrier around it, yeah I found that already!"

Helis blinked at all these revelations, and felt her heart begin to pound. This was like some sort of nightmare. Not only was their cover about to be blown, but it seemed like this guy could somehow track them as well. If he was working with the Arch Mage, even indirectly, there was no way they could escape!

"So, that's it?" Artur called back. "You're going to leave, and let others fight your battles for you?"

"If it works, why not?" Sans sighed and quickly glanced to Helis once more before he continued. "But look, I'm a giver, I'll cut you kids a break this once! One day, that's how long I can give you before my friend and I go to the police."

"Oh my, how very generous of you!" Artur rolled his eyes before before slowly bringing his hands together a few times in applause. "And we're supposed to what, use that time for a head start?"

"You can do what you want with it!" Sans shot back. "But, whatever it was you had planned, that's done now! You can sit around and fight with the cops if you want, but I don't want to hear about anymore dead monsters, got it?"

"Well, if that's what you want," Artur replied with a near imperceptible grin.

"Good, great, we're done then!" Sans added quickly as he quickly lifted his hand and gave a stiff wave. "Pleasure doing buisness with you, don't ever come back, bye!" And with that, he and his companion both vanished, with one final flash of light.

For long moments, the three mages stood in shock. It seemed as though none of them wanted to be the first to speak and break the silence. They'd need to move soon. As poor as security was in this particular parking garage, their activities had to have drawn someone's attention. Helis knew that, and was about to open her mouth to say something, but it was their leader who spoke up first.

"If that's what you want," Artur repeated the words slowly, almost as if he was studying them as his grin turned into a bitter smile. "Well, you know what they say. You don't always get what you want!"


	23. Chapter 23

Undertale: Long Road

By: Nathan Weaver

Chapter: 23

* * *

"You coward!" Nigel spat as he stomped about the dimly lit kitchen. "I can't believe you're running away from this!"

"Well, I can't believe you're still arguing about it!" Artur sighed and sat down the papers he was sorting through as he gave the other mage a weary look. "Look, I'm not happy about this either. But, that little troll of a skeleton figured out that we live here! I'm not sure how you think staying is a good idea after that!"

"Here," Helis muttered as she dropped another empty cardboard box onto the table.

"Thank you!" Artur said as he turned to Nigel and put on a showy smile. "So nice that one of you is being helpful!"

Helis winced and took a deep breath before stepping away from the table. The other two mages had been arguing like this from the moment Artur made the decision to retreat. Since then she'd spent almost every minute trying not to get caught up in the whole thing. She had managed it so far, but she doubted that'd be the case for much longer.

"I can't believe this!" Nigel growled as he walked away in a huff. "I'm gone, have her pack if she's so great!"

"Nigel!" the older mage called out through clenched teeth.

"It's Ashbourn!" and with that, he slammed the front door behind him as he left.

"That could've gone better," Artur sighed and took a deep breath before looking up at Helis with tired eyes. "You get it at least, right?"

"Yeah, I do," Helis said with a shrug as she peered in the direction Nigel had stormed off.

Truthfully, she fully understood why they needed to call it quits, even if that wasn't what Artur was calling it. In fact, for the most part, she was relieved to know it was all ending. Sure, she dreaded the thought of spending her whole life running from the Enforcers, but at least they wouldn't be hurting people anymore.

"Thank you, it's good to know one of you has good sense at least!" With that, Artur glanced in the direction Nigel had left and shook his head. Would you mind fetching that idiot? The last thing we need is people realizing this house isn't empty.

"Yeah, sure," Helis said as she scratched the back of her neck uncomfortably. "I can do that, I guess."

She hated the idea of dealing with that arrogant blowhard, but he was right. Their hideout was supposed to be abandoned. If anyone saw kids going in and out of it, they might call the police, that was the last thing they needed right now.

"I appreciate that," Artur said with an absent nod as he returned to looking through one of the manilla folders on the table.

Without another word, Helis turned and teleported away in a flash of green light. Had she stayed she might have been there to see a single photo slip from the folder in Artur's hands only to land on the table in front of him. If this were the case, she may have had some idea of what was to come.

As it was, she didn't have the foggiest notion of the events that had just been set in motion.

Helis reappeared on the streets of the suburb where their hideout was located. Looking around, she breathed in the cool night air and searched for her fellow mage, hoping to find him soon.

As luck would have it, she found him within seconds, walking directly away from her in the opposite direction she'd faced when teleporting in.

* * *

"Hey!" Helis called out as she began jogging after him. "Hold up, where are you going?"

"Away!" Nigel turned and hollered as he turned to look back without stopping. "Why, does it matter?!"

Before he even finished speaking there was a crackling pop and Helis appeared behind him in another green flash. "Yeah, it kinda does!" she said with an annoyed sigh.

Nigel yelped, nearly jumping out his skin before spinning to meet her with a glare. "Don't do that!"

"Sorry," Helis muttered with a shake of her head as she struggled not to grin. "But, you know you can't be out here, right? You're going to get us caught!"

"Oh, like you care about that!" Nigel shot back with a sneer. "Heck, I bet you just love that we're leaving, don't you?

On hearing that, Helis took a deep calming breath and silently asked herself why she even tried.

"I wanted this to work just as much as you did!" Helis said as she put up her hands defensively.

"Uh-huh," he deadpanned. "And, that's why you looked for excuses to let monsters go?"

"Well, what about you?!" Helis shot back as she all but stomped her foot in frustration. "Why do you care about all this?! It's not that they were ever going to kill you for not being good enough!"

"Well of course you wouldn't get it!" Nigel said with a roll of his eyes. "See, this is the problem with you washouts. None of you have any ambition, you only care about survival!"

"What's wrong with wanting to live!?" Helis felt her face grow hot as she spat out the words. She knew she should not lose her cool, but she couldn't help it. She had hurt so many for a chance to live. Now she was being told wanting to live made her petty, and that made her blood begin to boil

"Nothing's wrong with it," Nigel began as a smug grin spread across his face. "But, we aren't all okay just scraping by. Some of us have ambition! Some of us want to go on to do great things!"

"Wait, so what, you want to rule the world or something?" Helis asked as she shook her head in disbelief. "I hate to break it to you, but that one isn't happening!"

"No, I don't want to rule the world!" Nigel said with snicker clearly amused by the notion. "Who would even want to rule the world, it's a mess!"

"So, what do you want?"

For several long seconds, Nigel stood mulling over his answer, only for a grin to spread across his face as an idea seemed to strike him. Raising his hand, the older boy tensed and exerted a minor force of magical will as a glowing orange flame flickered to life in his palm. As she stood there, Helis couldn't help noticing how his eyes seemed to almost dance as he stared into the fire.

"Look at what we can do!" Nigel began in an almost reverent tone. "There was a time, long ago, when the humans admired mages like us. We were their heroes, their champions, we were even their gods! But now, thanks to that tyrant and his stupid rules, we all have to hide in the shadows!"

With that, he clenched his fist, snuffing away the light of the flame in an instant.

"It's all just so, dumb!" he growled out through clenched teeth as he balled his hands up in frustration. "We could be doing so much. We could be stars, warriors, we could even be super heroes if we really wanted to. Instead, we hide our gifts just to keep up some stupid secret!"

"Do you really think Artur's plan would've changed that?" Helis asked skeptically.

"He promised me we wouldn't have to hide anymore," Nigel said with a shrug. "Besides, do you really think we could fight a civil war in secret?"

As much as she hated to admit it, he was probably right. While there weren't too many mages left in the world; people would have a hard time not noticing them when they started throwing fireballs at each other in the streets.

"Okay look, I get it okay!" Helis said honestly, as she held out her hands in surrender "Keeping our abilities a secret bites, no argument. That doesn't mean it's okay to be out here!"

"What does it matter!"

"It matters because we aren't running away for good!" Helis said, hoping her irritation would hide that the statement felt like a lie. It was all technically true, Artur had told them that they were only leaving until things cooled down. That didn't mean she actually believed it. "Being out here draws attention, and we don't need that right now!"

"And you're honestly telling me you care?" Nigel asked as he raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"Yes, of course I do!" Helis said, her voice catching uncomfortably on the answer.

"Wow, you are a terrible liar!" Nigel scoffed, and slowly shook his head. "Look, I just need some air. Could you maybe give me few minutes? I'll come back on my own, promise."

"Sure," Helis drew out the word slowly, not sure if she should believe what she was hearing.

"I mean, as long as you don't do anything crazy, I guess that's fine."

"What would I do!" he asked as he spread his hands in an exaggerated shrug. "Even if I did something stupid like taking the harvester, I don't think I could accomplish anything. Not without the Living Weapon to back me up."

"The what?"

"The big guys nick-name back in the Apprentice Program," Nigel answered with a quick gesture back to the house where Artur was still dwelling.

"Ah," Helis nodded, "so, is he really strong then?" She had suspected as much from what she'd seen already, even if she didn't know exactly what his magic of choice was. But still, suspecting something and knowing it were far from the same thing.

"You'll see," Nigel said with a knowing grin. "If you stick around long enough."

"Whatever, I'm heading back," Helis said with a skeptical shake of her head. "You're going to be okay out here alone, right?" She felt silly for even asking. With the barrier around their hideout down, it wasn't like he'd have trouble getting back in on his own.

"Yeah-yeah, just go already!" Nigel muttered as he turned away and dismissively waved her off. "I'll see ya soon."

With that, Helis began to stroll back in the direction of the house, not bothering to use magic to teleport for once. As she walked, she began to feel a giddy lightness rising up in her chest. With each step it grew until it finally reached her lips, causing them to spread into a bright smile.

She had her way out now. Sure, she's known that for awhile. But until a moment ago she was still afraid Nigel would do or say something to pull them all right back into the entire murderous mess. With that last bit of uncertainty gone, everything felt real all of a sudden.

Sure, they'd be running for their lives soon. Once the police put out their pictures, the Enforcers would pick up on their trail and chase them tirelessly. But she was a teleporter, and she'd have two combat mages with her. With that going for her, surely she could stay a step ahead of them.

It would be hard, and it would take some luck, but if she played her cards right she could use this to finally wriggle out from under the sword dangling over her neck. And, the best part was that nobody else had to die.

* * *

"Hello!" Helis announced as she shut the door behind her after re-entering the house. "I'm back, and you don't need to worry about Nigel!" She waited a moment for a reply, then another, but no matter how long she waited there was only deafening silence to greet her.

That's strange, she thought to herself as she slowly walked across the dark, dusty living room. When she'd left Artur was scrambling to get everything thrown together, and he hadn't at all been quiet about it. Now, all she could hear was the subtle creaking of floorboards under her own footsteps.

"Artur?" Helis called out as she took another step forward, her voice tight with newly found alarm. Could something have happened in the short time she was gone? That didn't seem possible, not when she'd only been away for a few minutes. It seemed far more likely that he was just off resting somewhere. At least, that's what she kept telling herself.

It was at that moment when reality disagreed, and a distant violent thud echoed from somewhere on the second floor. Helis sucked in a breath of air even as her body went rigid. She wasn't sure how long she stood there like that, but the next thing she knew, her eyes were locked uneasily on the stairs leading up to the second floor.

It was probably nothing, she told herself that again and again with each step she took towards the stairway. But, no matter how many times she reassured herself, Helis still found it hard to breathe as she looked up the shadowy ascent.

"Is anyone there?" she asked in a whisper, only to be answered by an empty stillness. When there was no answer, she took a deep breath to calm her nerves and began slowly climbing the steps.

Even after she reached the top of the staircase, she continued onward. Moving to the end of the hallway where Nigel's room sat across from her own. It was only when she was practically within arm's reach of the doorknob that she noticed the normally locked door had actually been left ajar.

She paused at that, Artur was very private, and never left his door sitting open, especially when he was using it. There was a first time for everything, but the oddity did nothing to put her at ease. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and reached out, pushing the door open with a whining creak of the hinge. It was only when the door came to a stop, that she sensed movement.

"YOU BRAT!" the words bellowed from behind her as strong hands bore down on her neck, choking away her air with a coughing sputter.

Terror tore through her as she tried to pry fingers away from her throat, only to feel them clamp down tighter. Without thinking she grabbed ahold of her magic and willed herself to be anywhere else. As if answering her the world shifted in a flash of light, and she felt her back slam against the wooden floor of the hall as air rushed back into her lungs.

A frantic glance around told her she was back in the hallway, mere steps away from where she'd just been. Sitting forward, she tried to calm herself enough to teleport again. It was then that she heard a set of footsteps, and looked up to see the shadowy silhouette of Artur as he approached.

"Where, did you get it!?" the irate mage growled out the question between clenched teeth, even as he brought up a hand and loudly snapped his fingers.

Helis shrieked, her vision going white as the bones of her right hand snapped in a rapid series of audible sickening cracks. Falling back, she clutched at the wrist of her now misshapen hand and struggled not to bite her tongue.

"Where?!" Artur repeated as spittle flew from his mouth.

In the midst of all her agony, Helis hardly even heard the words. She couldn't think about what he was asking, why he'd attacked her, or how he'd done this to her in the first place. Right then, all she could think about was the thrumming pulse of fire shooting up her arm.

Growling, the older mage knelt and roughly took hold of her chin before forcing her tear-streaked eyes up to meet his own.

"I asked you a question!" Artur stated in a cold dangerous voice as his fingers pressed hard into her flesh. "Where did you see it?"

"What are you talking about!" Helis cried out weakly between sobs.

"This!" he answered in a hiss as he pulled a bent photo from his pocket and held it up before her. In the darkness, it took her some time to make out the image, but once she did her blood ran cold.

In it, a clear prescription bottle filled with glowing pills sat on the pavement of an ordinary looking parking lot. It was a picture she'd taken months ago, back at the beginning of summer when she was scouting out the homes and routines of all the monsters they had wanted to avoid.

At the time she'd thought the sight was weird, that was the reason she had taken the picture in the first place. The plan had been to ask Artur about it, but in the midst of all the crazy things going, on she'd filed it away and forgotten the whole thing.

"I wasn't hiding it!" Helis said in a panic as she looked into her captor's hard stony eyes.

"Where!?" He bellowed

"Outside that lizard doctor's place!" she began. "Frisk, the human girl, she dropped it as she was leaving. I was going to tell you, but I forgot!"

"You forgot!?" Artur asked in a sharp incredulous tone. "How could you possibly forget?!"

"I don't know!" Helis cried. "Why, what is that stuff!?

"Core magic!" he screamed at the top of his lungs and roughly pushed her back to the ground. "You idiot! That's the stuff we've been trying to get, this entire freaking time!"

"I'm sorry," Helis said as she scrambled back as best she could with a ruined hand. "I didn't know!"

"Liar-liar," Artur chuckled and wagged his finger in a chiding motion as his lips curled into a cruel grin. "I know you Helis, the possibility must have crossed your mind. I think you just didn't want to go after the girl, right?"

"No, I," she paused open-mouthed, her mind racing as she struggled to piece thoughts together through the agony lancing up her arm. Had she done that? It was so long ago that she was not sure. But, it did sound like something she would've done.

"I never wanted to hurt anyone!" Helis admitted with a whimper. "Why, is that wrong?"

"So, perfectly naive!" He nearly spat the words as he stared at her angrily, his eyes practically boring through her. "If you had just told us, we wouldn't have needed to go after the monsters at all!" He paused at that and reached out until an index finger came to rest heavily on her forehead.

"Selfish!" he sneered and leaned in closer without removing the tip of his hand. "Your childish desire to keep your hands clean doomed those people!"

Helis' eyes grew, the words triggering a confusing tumult within her that left her feeling as though she would burst. Inside her mind, a voice screamed that none of it was true, that she had not meant for any of this to happen.

Before any part of her had a chance to believe that, her captor opened his mouth and whispered, "You are a murderer, nothing you can do will ever change that!"

The words stabbed her so painfully that she never noticed the surging aura of the other mages magic. Not until she felt a strange hand roughly latching onto her shoulder from behind.

"Murderer!" an unfamiliar voice repeated the words in a strange avian growl. Gasping, Helis turned and inhaled sharply as she made out the feathered silhouette of the librarian, the first monster they'd killed back when this all started.

"No!" Helis screeched and jerked to the side, her shoulder crashing hard against the wall as she scrambled away from the apparition.

As she moved, more shapes began to appear. Some shambled down the hall, flowing around the grinning form of Artur, while others came up the stairs and pointed gnarled accusing fingers at her. No matter the direction they approached, she knew all of them as the people she'd helped kill.

"Murderer!" they all began to chant as they surrounded her. "Killer!"

"No, no-no!" she screamed again, futily batting away at a sea of angry hands closing in on her before curling her head away into the crook of her arms. "Please!"

Without pause or mercy, she felt strong hands pull her arms from her face. Then they were on her, and she could do nothing but wail.

* * *

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm…"

If Artur was at all bothered by the gibbering chant of the girl he just left quivering on the floor, he didn't show it. Instead, he stood back to his full height and brushed at the wrinkles on his outfit before calmly walking off.

He paused only briefly to look back at her as he began his way down the stairs. He didn't know what hidden nightmare she was seeing, but it must have been a doozy to get such an ear-splitting reaction out of her. He grinned, a measure of pride swelling up within him at the thought. Maybe he couldn't play with minds to the same extent as the Arch-Mage, but that didn't mean his own abilities were any less potent.

It was then, just as Artur was reaching the bottom of the stairway, that Nigel burst in through the front door. His eyes were wide with alarm as he frantically searched around for an explanation to the terrified sounds he had heard while outside.

"What's going on!?" Nigel demanded as his head twisted about frantically. "It sounded like Helis was being murdered in here!"

"She's fine!" Artur said reassuringly, as he spread his hands in a placating manner. As if waiting on cue, a whole new set of pained howls drifted down from above them, shining truth to the lie which had just escaped the lead mage's lips.

"She will be fine!" he amended as he held up a finger to forestall more questions. "This is why we have healing items, after all."

"What," Nigel's lips moved wordlessly as he looked back and forth between the stairs and a calmly smiling man before him. "Why did you…"

"I had to," Artur said matter of factly, cutting him off without showing the slightest change in expression. "She was holding back on us."

"I don't understand," Nigel said uncertainly as he started fidgeting in place. "What do you mean, holding back?"

"Oh, I'll tell you, but one thing at a time!" he began as he made the same placating gesture from before. "If you heard that little show, others had to have as well. So I'm afraid we need to go, now!"

"But…"

"Nigel," the single word came out as cold and unyielding as steel. "I will explain everything later. Right now, I need you to fetch our robes and the barrier artifact. Can you do that for me?"

"Our robes?" the younger mage narrowed his eyes in confusion at that.

"We're not running away, not anymore," Artur said, his voice taking on an almost delighted quality. "From here on out we're operating in the open!"

"You mean, it's time?"

"That's right!" Artur said, as his smile widened "Tomorrow, we declare war! I think it's only appropriate we look the part, don't you think?"

"Yes!" Nigel nodded, his eyes shining with excitement as any concern for his fellow mage was forgotten. "Don't go anywhere, I'll be right back!" With that, he turned and disappeared down a nearby hall, leaving Artur all by himself as he raced to grab everything needed.

It was only after waiting a moment to see whether he was truly alone, that Artur reached into his pocket and carefully fished out an old beaten up telephone. Staring down at the display, he went through the menu's one by one, only stopping after pulling up a backlit image.

"I'm sorry," he said in a shaky reverent voice. "I know I promised you, but it's taken me so long!" Closing his eyes, he inhaled sharply and clicked off his phone before returning it to his pocket.

"I'll kill that man for you, very soon," he continued, his voice turning cold as he opened his eyes. "But first, I think it's time we all paid a visit to good ole Doctor Alphys."


	24. Chapter 24

Undertale: Long Road

By: Nathan Weaver

Chapter: 24

For once, it wasn't the alarm or the stirring of her constant flower companion that woke Frisk. Nor was it the early morning light, or even the breeze as it rustled through the branches far above her.

This time consciousness was brought about neither by the ambient noise of her surroundings or by any man-made apparatus. Instead, it was forced upon her by the irate machinations of a tree squirrel, and the pinecone munitions it had begun lobbing at her tent.

With a whine, Frisk slowly lifted her head, only to wince as another seedling collided against the pup-tent with an obnoxious 'plonk'. If that wasn't bad enough, the creature then let loose a high angry chitter from its unseen vantage point above. But as hard as that made it to stay asleep, at least it cleared up what was actually making the racket.

"Make it go awaaaay!" Frisk cried out in a groan as she fell face first back into her pillow.

"I could," Flowey said dryly, "but, I don't think you'd like how I'd do it."

At that, yet another of the rodent launched cones smacked the tent with the same groan-inducing note as before. This caused both of them to let out long weary breaths as they glared up through the fabric of the tent, towards the unseen menace.

"I guess we're up then," Frisk sighed and began climbing out of her bag. "You sleep okay?"

"Oh, you know," Flowey shrugged from his position near the mouth of the tent, and politely looked away as Frisk began changing.

By the time the morning fog cleared from her mind, Frisk was already sitting at a picnic table, eating a plate of eggs and pancakes that had been sat in front of her by Grillby.

She had been quite surprised to see the quiet-spoken fire monster cooking when she'd walked into camp. This was not only because he'd already prepared quite the sizable mountain of food, but also because she hadn't realized he was coming along in the first place.

As luck would have it, Fuku, the green-flamed monster girl Frisk had met the day before, soon sat across from her and Flowey with her own plate. After eating alongside each other for a time, the other girl opened her mouth and opted to answer the unspoken question.

"He's my uncle," Fuku said the words in a simple matter of fact manner, before taking another bite of pancake. At that, Frisk blinked in surprise and quickly sat down her fork as she swallowed her food. But before she could ask the other girl what she'd meant, Flowey beat her to it.

"Wait, what?" Flowey asked with a mouthful of food from where he sat in front of his own plate next to Frisk. "Who said anything about uncles?!"

"Frisk was looking," Fuku said with a smile as she motioned back and forth between Frisk and Grillby with one hand. "She looked confused, I made an assumption."

"That's fine," Frisk muttered with a quick shake of her head as she held up her hands in surrender. "I didn't know he was your uncle. But still, why is he here exactly?" She felt awkward asking, but she couldn't help being her curious self. Not everyone's parents had been able to attend, but the trip was still mostly for parents and their children. At least that's how she understood it.

"My uncle's the closest thing I have to a parent," Fuku answered, growing clearly uncomfortable.

"Oh," Frisk said slowly as she felt the bottom fall out from her stomach. "I'm sorry, I didn't know!"

"No, you're fine," Fuku waved and took another dainty bite before continuing. "Besides, it's not as sad as it sounds like. I have my uncle, and he loves me very much. So, I'd like to think that's good enough."

"Trust me, it really is," Frisk said softly as she gave a slow deliberate nod. "It doesn't matter who they are, the people that love you the most are your family. That's all there really is to it."

"I suppose you'd understand better than most," Fuku smiled warmly and gave a slight bow of her head, before standing with her plate in hand. "I'm sorry to cut this short, but I think I might need to go lend a hand. It looks like things may be getting a bit crazy soon."

With that, the other girl motioned about with her hand. Following it, Frisk could see that far more kids were migrating toward the circle of picnic tables even as she watched. Apparently, she and Flowey had only been among the first wave of children lured in for breakfast.

"Wow, okay I see what you mean," Frisk said as she raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Need any help?"

"No, you stay here and have fun," Fuku said with a shake as she began to move around the table. "I'm sure we can manage this just fine."

"Okay," Frisk muttered as she raised her hand, "later!"

Even after waving goodbye, Frisk found herself watching over the other girl as she slid in beside her uncle and started handing out platefuls of foods. Despite neither of them saying a word, they each adjusted to the other's presence and were soon working like a single harmonious unit.

"That's almost cute!" Frisk said with a smile as she turned back to her food.

"Really?!" Flowey looked back and forth between Frisk and the two flame monsters before shoveling another large fork-full of pancakes into his mouth. "They don't look cute to me!"

"Different kind of cute," she began before stopping to shake her head. "And, don't talk with your mouth full. You know what mom would say if she saw that!"

"Yeah-yeah," Flowey muttered before taking a moment to swallow. "But you're going to need to explain this to me. How are those two cute?"

"Well, they're there for each other!" she said as she gave a quick shrug. "I just wish you and Asgore had that sort of relationship." At that, she froze and internally slapped herself in the forehead for having allowed that errant thought to slip through.

"Not this again!" Flowey groaned. "I told you, I can't tell either of them who I am, not yet."

"I know that!" she conceded as she held up her hands. "You're not going to tell either of them until you're good and ready. But don't you want to talk to them, at least sometimes?"

"Sure, I guess," Flowey muttered quietly as he stared down at his two leaves. "But, it'd be a lot easier if I didn't look like this!"

With a sigh, Frisk took a moment and tried to come up with the right words to reassure Flowey that it didn't matter what he looked like. Before she could find them, she was cut off by a high manic voice that rang out across the camp.

"Friiiiiiiisk!"

At once, the two turned only to be met by the imposing sight of Asgore walking steadily toward them with a grinning MK dangling the wrong-side-up across his shoulder.

"Howdy!" Asgore said with a grin as he came to a stop near them. "You know, I think I've found something of yours!"

"Okay," Frisk said in a drawn-out fashion before making eye-contact with the other kid. "What happened here!?"

"I got captured by Santa!" MK giggled from his upside-down perch. "Save me!" Frisk snorted at the mention of the role Asgore frequently played during Christmas back before she'd fallen into the underground. Truth be told, she would've paid to see him in that costume again.

"Yes well, I was waylaid by this little bandit on my way here," Asgore said with a rumbling chuckle as jostled MK about for emphasis. "I figured I'd leave him in your custody."

"No, you'll never take me alive!" MK growled playfully as he tried to wriggle his way free.

"Oh, it's way too late for that!" Asgore smiled broadly and gave a little monster a gentle squeeze to emphasize just how captured he already was.

"It's not fair!" MK cried out. "You only got me because I'm an unarmed man!"

At that, Frisk, Flowey, and even Asgore, all froze and slowly turned to stare at the armless child. For his part, MK looked back at them all and managed to affect a shrug even in his odd position.

"What?" He asked as his grin turned toothy. "I'm allowed to make jokes about it!"

"If you say so!" Asgore said with a grunt of effort as he bent to safely deposit the child back on the earth. Once that task was done, the older monster straightened and smiled at Frisk as he reached out to hand her a clipboard he'd been hiding away in the crook of his free arm.

"Here you," Asgore said as he took a breath. "We're having all the junior campers fill out these!"

"What is it?"

"It's just a signup sheet for some pre-planned activities," Asgore explained as he made a wheeling motion with his hand. "It's just to make sure we don't misplace anybody."

"Oh, I get it!" Frisk read down the list, only to stop when she neared the end. "Magic practice?"

"Well, that one's a bit of tradition for events like these," Asgore said uneasily as he scratched the back of his neck. "I'm sure we can find something else for you to do during that slot. Unless maybe you'd like to give it a shot?"

"No, it's fine," Frisk said with a wave of her hand. "It's not a big deal, really!"

The truth was that Toriel had already tried teaching her how to use magic, and it hadn't gone well. No matter how much effort she put into it, she just didn't have the innate talent to use magic. The whole thing was a bit of a sore spot for her, to be honest. She'd love to be able to heal people like mom, but that didn't seem to be what fate had in store for her.

"Do I get a sheet?" Flowey asked as he shot a look between Frisk and Asgore.

"Oh, sorry," Asgore began as he stared down at the annoyed looking plant. "I assumed that you and Frisk would just-"

Upon realizing just how irritated Flowey had become over his slip-up, the king trailed off and gave a little shake before he resumed. "I'll just, go get you one right now then." With that, he turned and walked off, presumably to grab another sheet from wherever they were kept.

"What was that for?" Frisk asked with a curious tilt of the head. "Weren't you planning on sticking with me the whole time anyway?"

"Sure I am," Flowey answered with a huff. "But, he could've at least asked me!" Upon hearing that Frisk let out a sigh before grabbing the pen attached to the clipboard to begin filling out the sheet.

The form itself was quite simple. Upon it, there were a number of blank time slots, with a list of activities situated to the right of each of them. The only real issue she had with it, was that while everything was easy to understand, she didn't know what each activity entailed, or who would be supervising them.

She was so stumped by the problem, that she almost gave up right there and resigned herself to waiting to ask Asgore; when someone else who could answer her questions sat down beside her.

"Yo, are you going to eat that?" MK asked as he stared down at her plate and licked his lips.

"Go head," Frisk answered as she scooted the plate in front of him and looked back to her clipboard. "Hey, what're you planning for this timeslot?"

"I'm doing the team sports thing," MK said after he finished swallowing a pancake.

"What, you mean like soccer and stuff?" Flowey grimaced and stuck out his tongue as if he'd just tasted something bitter. For her part, Frisk was surprised that they were doing something like that on a camping trip. Though, she had seen an area that looked like a lawn when they were pulling in the night before.

"We're going vote on it before we start," MK looked to Frisk as he answered as if she was the one that had asked. "That reminds me, where were you yesterday? We went over all this stuff as soon as we got here, but I couldn't find you anywhere!"

"Car trouble," Frisk began with a sigh. "We got in kinda late." With that, she mentally checked off that activity from the list. While she might've enjoyed it herself, she doubted Flowey would.

"What's Asgore going to be in charge of?" she asked idly.

"Fishing lessons," this time it was MK to stick out his tongue. "Nobody's signing up for that one!"

"Why, what's wrong with fishing?" Frisk asked.

"Have you seen those fishing shows?!" MK asked with a grim-faced shake of his head. "They're so boring!"

While Frisk didn't quite think they were that bad, she had to admit that she would probably have more fun signing up for the event with MK. But, one quick glance at the physically fragile flower sitting next to her was all it took to remind her why that would be a really bad idea.

Letting out a frustrated breath, Frisk went back to looking through the list only to pause when she thought back to how distant Flowey had been around Asgore so far.

"Flowey," Frisk began as she turned to look down at her friend. "Have you ever been fishing?"

"Sure," Flowey began uneasily. "Da-, that man, he used to take us down to Waterfall to fish. We didn't usually catch anything though."

*Oh yeah, the biggest thing I ever caught was a boot. Good times, that.

As Flowey said this, his eyes went back and forth between MK and herself. Naturally, Frisk assumed he was talking about Asgore and Chara, and that he simply was not comfortable openly talking his past in public. In this case, however, it actually slipped her mind that her armless friend was sitting just to the other side of her.

"Did you have fun on them?" she asked.

"Yeah, I guess," Flowey shrugged as a smile slowly crept its way onto his face. "I mean, the fishing wasn't all the fun, but it was nice to sit and talk at least."

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear!" Frisk grinned and bent to fill out the spot.

"Wait, what?" Flowey furrowed his brows and leaned over to see what she was writing, only to go wide eyed as he realized what she was doing. "Frisk!"

"Too late!" She said with a giggle as she stood up straight. "Looks like you're going to have some more time to talk with your dad after all!" MK blinked and sat up from his plateful of food at the statement, but Frisk hardly noticed as she sat beaming at her flower friend.

"I already told you," Flowey whined and slumped flat against the table. "I can't talk to him, Frisk!"

"I know that," Frisk said with a sigh as she let her smile dim. "But don't you want to? Isn't there anything you want to ask him?"

The plant opened his mouth to reply but closed it again when he saw when he saw MK listening in with obvious interest.

"Look, you don't have to say anything if you don't want to," Frisk shrugged and turned back to the clipboard. "But, you are going to have to talk to him sooner or later. This could be a good time to do it."

"Uh, what are you two talking about!?" MK pressed, his patience clearly buckling under the weight of his curiosity as his gaze wavered between Flowey and Frisk.

"Nothing!" Frisk went wide eyed and practically blushed as she buried her face in the clipboard.

"Wow, you two are so weird sometimes!" MK snorted, and with a shake of his head leaned face first back into his plate of breakfast foods.

* * *

"This is amazing!" Alphys squealed in a giddy voice as she gazed at the rows of colorful outdoor booths and the throngs of people moving between them. "I can't believe it's finally here!"

"I can!" Undyne said with a grin as she walked up beside her. "You've only been talking about this non-stop for the past few weeks!"

Some part of Alphys wanted to blush at the reminder of her obsessive behavior, but she was far too excited for that. As it stood, all she could muster was an uneven grin as a nervous titter burst from her lips.

"Sorry," Alphys began as she found herself staring down at her feet. "It's just been so long since we've done something like this!"

The small scientist was only too aware how much she had been looking forward to this. With all the craziness going on, she and Undyne hadn't been able to make it to any other conventions all summer. In fact, the only reason they'd been able to make this one was due to how close it was, being held in the middle of a park in downtown Eagleton.

"Hey, it's fine!" Undyne grinned and laid an arm on the smaller monster's shoulder as she gazed down at her. "Heck, I'm excited too. I can't wait to get my merch on!"

"I'm surprised you didn't try cosplaying again actually!" Alphys said as she began to walk in place beside her girlfriend. "You seemed to have a lot of fun with that, the last time we were at one of these things."

"Yeah well, I just didn't feel up to it this time," Undyne answered, only to pause to stifle another yawn. "Sorry about that."

"Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm good," Undyne said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I'm just a bit tired out after all those donations."

"Oh, right," Alphys winced almost as if in pain upon hearing the words. It was her fault that Undyne was donating core magic. She wouldn't have even known about the prince, or his condition if wasn't for her. But, before she could dwell too long on that particular failure, she suddenly felt the arm on her shoulder tighten into an oddly affectionate headlock.

"Hey, I know that look!" Undyne said with a wicked grin as she held a finger high in the air. "You are not going to start feeling guilty about this again, not today!"

"Alright, I get it!" Alphys choked out roughly. "You can let go now!"

"Never!" Undyne declared, even as she loosened her grip. "Sorry, but I'm never letting you go!"

"Thanks, I think!"

After that, the two enjoyed the anime convention for quite some time, while gathering more than their own fair share of attention from the people around them. After all, even after a year on the surface a lot of people still weren't used to seeing monsters walking around in real life.

Even so, most people didn't react badly to the duo. In fact, it wouldn't have been inaccurate to say that the two were almost treated like celebrities. More than once, other con-goers stopped to ask them for pictures. Some of the bolder individuals even asked if they could give Alphys a hug in their photos. Though, obviously, nobody was quite bold enough to ask Undyne to do that.

Strange as all of this might have been at one point, they'd both come to expect these sorts of things by now. Oddly enough, despite the sordid history of their races and all the many problems that had come up since returning to the surface. Right now, monsters were popular.

They were so popular, that among the assorted anime merch being sold, some monster themed items could be found as well. There were small plush dolls made in the likeness of Toriel. Posters for popular monsters such as Papyrus and Mettaton. At one point, they'd even stumbled onto one vendor selling a particularly revealing life-sized Undyne body pillow.

It was after the incident with the vendor, and the subsequent close call with con security, that Alphys noticed a great commotion a few booths down from the one they were visiting.

At a glance, she couldn't quite tell what was happening over there. All she could see was people crowding around something in front of another booth and making a big fuss. As little as she could see she was almost ready to dismiss it, when she happened to catch some of the words coming from the group.

"So cute!"

"It isn't a kid in a costume, right?"

"Wow, is that a real sword!?"

It was that last comment that caught Alphys' attention and led her to take a closer look at what was going on. When she did, she almost instantly caught sight of a small agitated figure, through the legs of the people that had gathered around her.

"Hey Undyne," Alphys asked without looking away. "Aren't you friends with a cat monster that likes to walk around with a katana?"

"Sorta," Undyne stretched out the word as she slowly turned to face her with a confused look written on her face. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I think that's her over here!"

It was then that a high feline voice rang shouted out, "Back off nerds, I'm not cute!" All at once the whole crowd leaped back as the resounding hiss of unsheathing steel triggered survival instincts en masse.

"Yep," Undyne said with a weary sigh as she held a hand to her forehead. "That's her alright!"

"Whoa, hold on!" Alphys waved her arms as she swiftly walked towards the now very alarmed crowd, only for Undyne to follow her a moment later. "Settle down, I'm sure it's just a prop!"

In fact, she was quite sure that it was not. But the words seemed to calm down the onlookers, and more than a few seemed to decide that it was an excellent moment to discreetly slip away.

"Who the heck are you?" Tilin asked, only to widen her eyes in recognition as Undyne walked into view behind Alphys. "Oh, you must be the weeb girlfriend. Figures I'd run into you here!" With that, the tiny black and white cat monster let out an irritated huff and re-sheathed her weapon.

"Hey!" Undyne said as she stiffly raised her hand in greeting.

"Don't you hey me!" Tilin hissed out as her ears went flat. "What do you two want anyway?"

"We just came to see what the fuss was all about," Alphys stuttered nervously as her gaze shifted back and forth between the other two. Undyne had told her that Tilin could be a bit prickly, but this was bordering on antagonistic.

"They all thought I was cute!" Tilin fumed and grimaced as though tasting something bitter. "Just because I'm small and fuzzy and have soft fur and... You know, maybe I am a little cute, but that doesn't mean I'm not fearsome too!"

"Um, that's nice!" Alphys added in once there was a break in her tirade.

"What brings you here, anyway?" Undyne asked. "I thought you hated this sort of stuff!"

"Oh," Tilin stiffened at the question. "Well, you see I…"

Before she could continue, the vendor chose that moment to lean over the counter and smile broadly as she handed a small stack of comic books to the sword-wielding fur ball. While Alphys couldn't read the title of the topmost comic from her angle, she couldn't help blushing as she saw the anime artwork of two men in an embrace, printed on the cover.

"Here you are!" the vendor said cheerfully as she pushed the comic books a few inches closer. "Sorry for the wait."

"Thank you!" Tilin forced out the words through gritted teeth and roughly snatched the books from the bewildered woman's hands before turning to look back at the other two monsters.

"Wow," Undyne grinned madly, her eyes gleaming as her gaze bore down on the feline before her. "I had no idea you were into that sort of stuff! Hey, is this a new thing, or have you always liked human men?"

"Oh, shut up!" Tilin hissed as her ears flattened back against her skull. "I'm just picking it up for my sister. It's not my fault she has weird tastes!"

"A likely story!"

"Alright, that's enough of that!" Alphys said with a nervous grin as she suppressed her panic and asserted herself between the two. "Undyne, you went a bit far there. You should say you're sorry!"

"Fiiine," Undyne sagged as she drew out the word into a whine. "I'm sorry for making fun of you. Are you happy?"

"Hardly!" Tilin scoffed. "What about how you ditched me at the amusement park?"

"Not this again!" Undyne groaned and glared down at the other monster, only to sag when she caught sight of Alphys giving her a silently pleading look.

The stout scientist may not have been entirely familiar with what was going on between these two, but if her girlfriend had ditched somebody then she should apologize for it. Besides that, they were making enough of a scene already. She didn't want to throw a public argument on top of all that.

"You know what," Undyne said slowly as she filled her lungs with air. "You're right, I should've at least told you what was going on."

"So, you're sorry then?" Tilin asked, suddenly looking as though she were in uncharted waters.

"Yeah, I'm sorry," Undyne shook her head with a sigh. "So, are we still friends?"

"Rivals!" Tilin answered immediately and grinned. "I still haven't given up on beating you!"

"Good!" Alphys added before anyone could say something else. "So, Tilin was it? Since you're already here, would you like to wander around with us?"

For a long uncertain moment, the tiny cat-like monster audibly hemmed and hawed in indecision, as Undyne stared at Alphys bug-eyed. She understood how she felt. This was supposed to be a day for the two of them to kick back and relax, after all.

But, it seemed to her that monsters should be sticking together. Especially when one of them had already drawn a weapon on people and obviously needed to be looked after.

"Fine!" Tilin answered as though she was making some great concession. "But you are holding this, got it?" Without waiting for an answer, the smaller monster stepped forward and threw her collection of comics into Alphys' arms before she could object.

"Hey!" Undyne began hotly before Alphys turned to her with a shake of the head.

"It's fine," Alphys said with a shrug. "We're already buying stuff, so what's a few more? Besides," she paused and looked at the covers again with a blush. "These, look pretty neat actually!"

"Oh noo," Tilin groaned and pinched the bridge of her muzzle before walking off and muttering. "She's like a dorkier clone of my sister!" With that, the other two monsters looked at each and blinked in confusion, before they hurried to catch up with her.

In their rush, none of the monsters noticed the girl in the black and green striped hoodie, who was eyeing them from between two booths as they walked away.

* * *

Without once looking away, Helis fished out her phone and stared at it for a long terribly uncertain moment. It was the fear, and knowing that it was already too late for her to make things right, that finally pushed her into dialing the number she knew would set everything into motion.

"I found them," she said in a trembling voice as she held the phone to her head a moment later. "They're at the convention in the park."

"Good!" came the voice on the phone. "Keep them in sight until we get there."

"Alright," Helis whispered the answer and moved to hang up, only to pause when Artur continued.

"Helis," Artur said in an icy voice that made her jerk. "Don't give me a reason to hurt you again."

With that, the line went dead, and she left alone with the thundering beat of her heart.


	25. Chapter 25

Undertale: Long Road

By: Nathan Weaver

Chapter: 25

* * *

Bending over, Frisk picked up a flat round stone from the ground and examined it briefly before giving a silent nod of approval. For what she had in mind, it was simply perfect. Without a word, she took a deep breath and cocked back her arm before unleashing it like a coiled spring, and stumbling forward with the force of the throw.

Catching herself, she looked up just in time to see the spinning stone bounce atop the surface of the lake, once, twice, thrice…

"Yes, five skips!" Frisk pumped her fist in excitement before turning to her friend and pointing out to where she just threw. "Did you see that it nearly made it halfway across the lake that time!"

While her statement was accurate, it wasn't quite as impressive as it sounded. This part of the lake was fairly narrow and on a day with calm winds like this, someone with a strong arm could easily skip a stone halfway to the other end. Still, Frisk was proud of her accomplishment, and there wasn't exactly a whole lot else she could do while waiting for Asgore to return to the boat landing with watercraft he'd gone to rent. So she figured she might as well enjoy herself.

"I saw," Flowey answered unenthusiastically as he stood on his roots atop the floating boat dock leading out onto the lake. "It was pretty neat, I guess."

"Yeah, wasn't it though!" despite her friends less than enthusiastic response, she couldn't stop smiling as she reached down to pick up another stone. "Hey, you wanna give it a try?"

"No!" he practically began growling, before shutting his eyes and taking a deep breath. "Look I'm sorry, but you know I can't handle stuff like that too well. Vines and leaves aren't exactly nimble."

"Yeah, but you never know until you try," Frisk shrugged and stepped up onto the platform. "Besides, it might not be perfect but there are worse things than being a flower!"

"How can you even say that?!"

"Because at least you're cute!" Frisk grinned wide as she came up next to him.

"Eww, gross!" scrunching up his face, Flowey gave her a strange look and stuck out his tongue as if he'd tasted something bitter. "You really are a weirdo, you know that? I don't think anyone else would look at a freaky talking plant thing and think, 'Oh my gosh, that's adorable!'"

"You'd be surprised actually". Letting out a breath, Frisk slowly shook her head and sat down on her haunches next to him. "Seriously though, what's going on with you today? I know that being a flower isn't easy and all, but it usually doesn't bother you this much!"

"I live with it, what other choice do I have?" Flowey gave an irritated shrug as his eyes flickered to his reflection in the lake. "But no, that isn't what's bothering me today, not really."

"So what's bothering you then?"

"It's just," he paused and shifted about for a long tense moment before continuing in a whisper. "I'm nervous about talking with dad."

Frisk tried, but couldn't stop herself from smiling at that. It was just so nice to see him talk about his feelings for once. Especially since she hadn't actually had to go on some epic quest just to drag them out of him. Still, it wouldn't do to give him the wrong idea. So with a deep breath and no small amount of effort, she worked her mouth and tried to force a straight face.

"Well," Frisk said as she raised both eyebrows. "I get being nervous, but I'm pretty sure that's normal. And it's not like you have to tell your dad who you are right now. You can just talk and see how it all goes"

"Yeah, but what if I mess up?!" he asked in an anxious whine. "What if I say something creepy or mean. I can't always help that!"

"You're getting a lot better about that!"

"But, it could still happen!" Flowey practically wailed at that and would have been stomping his feet in frustration if he had them. "If I make a mistake, they might end up hating me! I'm not sure I can take that, not now that I actually care." Drained, he let out a loud sigh and seemed to wilt in place. Neither said a word as they sat for a long awkward moment.

"Yeah, I guess that is pretty scary, huh?" Frisk let out a long breath and thought for a moment before continuing. "Your parents are super nice though! I don't think they could ever hate you."

"Sure they could," Flowey turned and stared down at his reflection in the lake. "Just look at me. I don't look a thing like Asriel anymore. I don't mean anything to them. So why shouldn't they hate me?" As he finished, he took a pebble from the deck and dropped it into the water before frowning at the ripple-warped face that stared back at him.

"They just won't!" Frisk shook her head as a note of finality crept into her voice. "Even if they don't know who you are, you're still their son. That has to mean something!"

"Maybe, maybe not," Flowey said quietly as he slowly forced himself to look away from his mirror image. "Saying that doesn't make this any less scary though."

"So," she began after an awkward silence. "Are you just planning to keep quiet for now?"

"Maybe, I don't know yet," he shrugged. "I'm still trying to figure this all out."

"Yeah, I guess I can understand that," letting out a long breath. Frisk looked about and chewed on her lower lip as an uncomfortable question danced on her tongue. In any other circumstance, she wouldn't dream of asking something like this. But she couldn't shake the feeling that it was important.

"Just, tell me one thing," she finally asked after a moment. "You do miss them, right?"

"Yeah I guess I do," Flowey nodded after a few moments, his voice coming out quietly. "I know I see mom every day, but I see her, she doesn't see me. Neither of them do. I wish I could change that!"

"If you want to change that, then you need to talk to them!" though she wasn't aware of it, Frisk made a little-frustrated pleading gesture with her hands. It felt like she was so close to reaching him on this. It was hard not to let that show through.

"I know that!" Flowey practically growled in frustration. "I'm not an idiot or anything. But, each and every time I think about this, I only see the ways it could go wrong. So how the heck am I supposed to talk to him without totally freaking out!"

"I don't know, alright!" Frisk sighed heavily at the admission and ran her fingers through her hair as she tried to think. "Honestly, yeah I'd be pretty freaked out too. But, you don't have to do this alone, you know that right?"

"I do," Flowey drew out the words, somewhere between a groan and a sigh. "I just wish all of this was a little bit easier, you know? I'm not good with this sort of stuff!"

"Oh, I know!" Frisk grinned widely, nearly bearing her teeth in the process. "That's why you have me, remember?"

"Well, aren't we being humble today!" To his credit, he glared at her deadpan for a whole seven seconds before rough laughter finally burst its way free from his mouth. "Ugh, you really are a dork you know that!?" Despite all his protests, he couldn't keep the self-conscious grin off of his face, and unlike in the past, this time he didn't seem to mind it all that much. "But thanks, I really don't think I could do any of this without you."

"Hey!" Frisk spoke softly as she reached down and gently took a hold of one of his leaves in her hands. "Don't sell yourself short, okay? You're a lot braver and more capable than you realize."

"Well, if you say so."

Before she could say anything in response to that, the low rumbling sound of a familiar engine could be heard approaching from somewhere off in the distance. Turning, Frisk took a few steps back to the shore and cocked her head to better pick up the sound. The second she recognized it, the thoughtful expression she'd been wearing disappeared, only to be replaced by an excited toothy smile.

"Asgore's back!" Frisk stood up and practically bubbled with delight, "c'mon, let's go meet him!" With that, she began dashing back towards the shore, with Flowey following close behind atop his wriggling mass of roots.

It was only after she stepped back onto solid ground that Asgore pulled into view, hauling a boat behind him as he drove on up in his van. Seconds later the king and his colorful old car came to a stop next to her and he rolled down his window.

"Hey kids," the former king of monsters waved hello. "I hope I didn't make you two wait too long!"

"We thought you got lost or something," Flowey grumbled under his breath as he settled in next to Frisk's ankle. As quiet as the comment was, Asgore somehow still managed to pick it up and grinned in embarrassment as he reached up to scratch at the back of his mane.

"I hope didn't make you worry. There was an issue with the rental guy." Without letting up on the grin, the old monster gave the two an apologetic shrug, and gestured back toward the trailer with a wave of his hand. "Speaking of which, what do you two think of our new boat?"

"Well," Frisk paused, eyeing the watercraft as she carefully chose her words. "It's nice, but it's not what I was expecting! Weren't we going to be getting a pontoon boat?"

"We were, originally," Asgore drew out the last word as if he was trying to prevent the inevitable. "The rental guy kinda, gave that boat to someone else."

Frisk looked back to the watercraft in question and tried not to frown as she took it in. Right at that moment, she had to remind herself that if the boat they'd wanted was gone then that was that. Still, after seeing this wreck she really wanted to ask if there wasn't something else.

The craft in question was not so much a boat, as much as a boat shaped amalgamate made of fiberglass and rusted metal, held together by light blue paint. Briefly, she considered running her hands along its surface, only to stiffen in phantom pain as she imagined pricking her fingers on rough iron welding.

Even the fact that it had made it all the way to the lake in one piece seemed amazing. Soon, even that shock was quickly surpassed when she realized Asgore would be in it, taking up most of its volume. With her eyes widened with worry, she glanced down toward Flowey, who with a similar expression, shook his head in disbelief.

*Wow, it's a good thing I'm dead. Because there's no way you'd get me on that thing if I wasn't!

"Well, it does look, vintage?" Frisk offered, not sure if that was the word she was searching for.

"I know, right?" Asgore beamed, and looked to the watercraft he was hauling with a grin. "Alright, hold on. I'm going to back this into the water. Stay out to the sides where I can see you, okay?"

"Got it," and with that Frisk and Flowey both backed away from the path they expected the boat to take as Asgore pulled out and began moving it into place.

"So, be honest with me," Flowey asked as he stared wide-eyed at the rickety-looking boat. "We're going to drown on that thing, aren't we?"

"No, of course not!" Frisk waved off the idea. "I'm sure we'll be wearing life jackets at least!

* * *

'Okay,' Asgore thought to himself as he continued to stare at the steep upward angle of the boat as they coasted through the water. 'This was a mistake, wasn't it?'

In hindsight, he knew he should've seen this coming. Yes, he had asked the owner of the rental shop if this old boat would hold his weight. And, he'd assured him it quite easily would. What he did not ask is what would happen when that much of a load was all placed squarely in the back.

The answer, which became obvious the moment he stepped into the craft, was that the boat would tilt, badly. Asgore could still remember the abrupt sinking sensation, and how the kids were sent lurching upwards with big surprised looks on their faces. Even after that, he didn't think too much of it. It was only after he had started the engine and felt the boat being forced ever lower in the water by its own forward motion, that he wondered if this was actually safe.

"This thing is safe, right?" the question, which of course mirrored Asgore's own thoughts, was out of Flowey's mouth the moment he had cut the engine.

"Of course it's safe!" Frisk piped in defensively as she stared down at the creature on her lap.

"Now-now, it's a fair question," Asgore looked down at the little guy and gave him a reassuring smile. "So long as the wind doesn't pick up we should be fine, I promise!" It really was not a lie either. Low as they were in the water the boat still seemed pretty stable overall. At least stable enough to handle this calm lake anyway.

"Oh, okay," Flowey muttered as he let out a small breath of relief, "Well thanks then."

With that, the tiny flower shifted about on Frisk's lap and pointedly looked away from the older monster, before he had any chance to reply. Frankly, Asgore found that more than a little odd.

Not that this was new. Since this whole trip had begun, it had been obvious that this creature was not comfortable near him. He just wished he knew why. If nothing else, it might help him understand why Toriel wanted him to keep track of the little guy. But for now, he supposed this would have to remain a mystery.

"So," Asgore cleared his throat and slowly reached over to fetch the three fishing poles hanging over the side. "Have either of you kids ever fished before? I can give you some tips if you'd like."

Leaning forward, Frisk stretched out her arm and took a pole before eyeing the red and white lure with a smile. "I think I can manage," she said as she began to eye the reel. "I just swing it forward and push this button here, right?"

"Close, you hold down the button then let it go when you want to cast," Asgore grinned as he saw the young girl nod in understanding. "But don't swing too hard, and try to let go before the end of the rod gets too close to the water. Otherwise, you'll spike your lure straight down."

"Ooooh, I get it," studying the pole closely, Frisk gave it a couple slow tentative practice swings before nodding again to herself. "So it goes like this then?"

Without further prompting, the young girl brought the rod back and swung it forward in a smooth arch. The lure was sent flying with a whir of spinning fishing line until it finally splashed down in the water many boat-lengths away.

"Wow, nice cast!" Asgore's eyebrows rose high in surprise. "You have a knack for this stuff!"

"It just felt right," Frisk said as she looked over at him with a grin. "So I just crank this to bring it in?"

"Right, and if you feel something pulling, wait a moment and give it a tug. That'll set your hook."

"Got it!" Frisk nodded and began slowly reeling as she looked out over the lake.

"And for you!" Asgore looked down at the small flower excitedly and gestured to a fishing rod.

"When you catch one, how about I teach you how to gut it too?" For some reason, he couldn't understand why this comment caused Frisk to visibly stiffen clear across the other end of the boat. But for his part, Flowey just looked up at him uncomfortably and slowly, blinked.

"Um, no thanks," the strange child muttered as his eyes slowly drifted between Asgore and the fishing poles. "I think I'm fine with just, you know, watching."

"Really?" Asgore cocked an eyebrow skeptically and grinned. "Young man, we're going to be out here for quite awhile. Are you sure you just want to sit around the whole time?"

"I'm sure."

"Very well," Asgore sighed and casually picked up a rod before unhooking the lure from one of the line guides. "Then I guess we'll just sit here and talk." Without waiting for a reply, the former king swung the rod, and cast out his lure before starting to reel it back in a moment later.

"So," he began, drawing out the word as he thought of ways to start the conversation. "How old are you anyway, ten, thirteen?"

Instead of answering, Flowey only gave him a short, tired glare, before returning his gaze to the bottom of the boat. Not sure what else to do, Asgore took a deep breath and was about to look for another question, when Frisk cleared her throat and turned to him.

"Flowey can be a little shy sometimes," Frisk shrugged, unable to meet Asgore in the eyes, but continuing regardless. "He just doesn't like talking about himself much. Even I have to give him some coaxing to get stuff out of him from time to time."

"Really?" Asgore smiled at that, even as he let out a breathy snort of skepticism. "Okay, then why don't we make a game out of it?"

"A game?" Flowey visibly perked up at the suggestion. "What sort of game?"

"It's pretty simple actually," Asgore said with a shrug-like side to side tilt of his head. "We'll take turns asking each other questions, and the first person that doesn't answer is the loser."

"That doesn't seem like much of a game!" Flowey groaned before pursing his lips as if thinking through something. "Do I get a prize if I win?"

"Sure thing, would a s'more be okay?"

Flowey narrowed his eyes in suspicion at that, "That isn't your first question, is it?"

"Oh, no-no-no!" Asgore let out a silent incredulous breath as his eyes went wide. Whether Flowey was clever or simply literal-minded, he was clearly going to need to be careful how he phrased things from here on out. Still, at least he was talking to him now; that was a step in the right direction.

"Let's go back to what I asked you earlier. How old are you Flowey?"

"I'm, not sure?" the young creature lowered his head in embarrassment before he looked around and began muttering to himself. "So, I first died when I was seven…"

Asgore was certain he had heard that one wrong, but he still could not help furrowing his brow in confusion at the bizarre statement. In fact, he had to bite his tongue and force himself not to ask what exactly he'd meant. After finally getting the young man to open up, the last thing he wanted to do was point out that he'd caught him thinking out loud.

"I guess I'm about eight, more or less," Flowey answered with an uncertain shrug. "But I've got a birthday coming up soon!"

"Wait," Frisk stared in open-mouthed disbelief at her friend. "You're younger than me!?"

"Oh no," Flowey let out a weary groan. "You don't need to rub it in or anything!"

"But, no wait," Frisk closed her eyes and shook her head as she gathered together all her thoughts. "What about all your time resetting? Doesn't that make you at least a few years older than me?"

Again Asgore blinked, not understanding any of this and feeling very lost.

*Don't worry, I was there for at least part of it and this stuff confuses the heck out of me too!

"I didn't spend that much time resetting!" Flowey said with a roll of his eyes. "I don't think I did anyway. I kinda lost track of time, but I'm pretty sure I wasn't down there for years or anything!"

"Well," Asgore cleared his throat to remind them he was there, only to smile when he saw how they both jumped in surprise. "I would've guessed you were older. Both of you are well-spoken for your age!"

"Um, thanks," Flowey said meekly, though there was no hiding the pleased smile on his face. "So, I guess it's my turn to ask a question?"

"Sure, ask away!" Asgore said as he swung his rod and cast his lure with a distant watery plop.

"Okay, but this is going to be a tough one!" Flowey warned, and began nervously fidgeting before pushing himself off Frisk's lap onto the floor. "So just, don't get mad at me alright?"

"I won't, promise."

Flowey nodded and took a deep breath before slowly letting it all out. "I just wanted to know, and it's okay if you don't want to answer this, but, do you ever miss your son?"

Asgore froze, his mind going blank as the world rolled beneath him.

"What," it was the only word he got out before he had to take a deep breath and visibly clenched his jaw. He wasn't at all prepared for that one, and it must have shown, because the next thing he knew the poor little guy was staring up at him wide-eyed.

"Nevermind!" Flowey shook his head as he shuffled about nervously. "Forget I said anything!"

"No!" Asgore held out a hand and took one final moment to collect himself. "You just caught me a bit off guard is all." Taking a final breath, the elder monster slowly began to nod as a wistful smile slowly spread across his face.

"Yes," Asgore continued to nod before letting out a soft sigh and gesturing around in a vague all-encompassing manner. "Being back up here on the surface, that makes me miss him more than ever actually. There are so many things I would have loved to show him."

"But what if he changed?" Flowey blurted the words out, and looked panicked for just a second, before ultimately deciding to continue. "What if he came back, but he did bad things and wasn't really the same person as he was before? Would you really want to see him if it meant all that?"

"I," the words stuck in Asgore's throat as he furrowed his brow and slowly shook his head in confusion. "I'm not sure I understand what you're asking me."

"What if," Flowey paused and took a silent gulp of air before he continued. "What if he came back, but you learned he killed somebody?"

"No," the words came out sharp as Asgore roughly shook his head from side to side. "My son was a good kid. He wouldn't make the same mistakes I did!"

"But what if he did?"

"He wouldn't!"

The words echoed out across the lake, and for an instant, it was as though the world went still. That was too much, as angry as that horrible question had made him he couldn't help feeling horrified that he had lost his temper like this. He was about to open his mouth to tell them both just how sorry he was but to his surprise the tiny flower that'd had caused this beat him to it.

"I'm sorry," Flowey's words were nearly a whisper as he looked up at him with moist, scrunched up eyes. "I know this isn't fair, and I know it's a horrible thing to ask, but I'm sorry I need to know!"

"I don't know you!" Asgore's words came out both deep and quietly intense as he stared down unflinchingly upon the creature. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Frisk open her mouth to speak, but he silenced her with a motion of his hand. The old king may not have known what this was all about, or why this child had asked him such a personal question, but it didn't matter.

Right now he had something he needed to say, and he couldn't allow anyone to interrupt him.

"Like I said, I don't know you. I don't know what must have happened to make you think that the bond between parent and child could ever so easily be broken. But I promise you this, no matter what he did, or what mistakes he may have ever made, I could never stop loving my son."

His voice never wavered. Even as a sad smile found its way onto his face and his eyes began to mist over, there was not even a gram of doubt in those words. By the time he finished up, he could practically hear the beating of his own heart in his chest. Even so, Asgore couldn't regret making the love for his children known.

After all, for all the mistakes he had made in his life, loving his kids had never been one of them.

"You're just…"

Asgore was snapped from his thoughts by a strange keening sound as he looked down to see Flowey staring up at him with watery eyes, visibly trying to hold back a flood of tears

"You're just saying that," he repeated the words as the first of many tears finally escaped from the corner of one eye. "You wouldn't feel that way if you actually knew!"

"Oh, oh no was that too harsh!?" without bothering to first reel in his lure, Asgore dropped the fishing rod to the bottom of the boat with a clatter as his hands grasped wildly about in a panic. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you or anything! I wasn't angry I was just a bit emotional there, honest!"

"N-no, it's not your fault," Flowey forced a smile as he looked up at him, but his tears didn't slow a bit. "Actually, I guess that's kinda what I really wanted to hear."

"I, what?" Asgore blinked once, twice, three times, and was no closer to understanding. Though, that did little to prevent a confused, off-kilter smile from spreading across his face. "Okay, you're going to have to tell me what this is all about sometime, because you have completely lost me!"

To be fair, while he was indeed pretty lost, Asgore had mostly meant that as a joke. Still, to his surprise, instead of ignoring the remark as he expected, the little guy wiped the tears from his face and looked around thoughtfully, before cautiously nodding in agreement.

"Yeah," Flowey continued slowly bobbing his head as he inhaled with an audible sniffle. "Yeah I guess I really should, shouldn't I?"

"Wait," Frisk's eyes went huge as she bound up onto to her feed in excitement, "really!?"

*Well, somebody doesn't know about boat safety!

Before Asgore could warn her, the world lurched to the side as the sudden shift in weight sent the boat reeling. Aided by his position and experience, the old king latched onto of the rail and managed to steady himself. But before he could enjoy any form of relief, he felt the bottom fall out from his stomach as he saw Frisk windmilling her arms as she toppled away from the boat.

Without thinking he leapt forward, arms stretched outward, as he grasped for her in a wild flurry of motion. Before he could make it even halfway to her, Frisk lost the last of her balance and disappeared over the side with a high-pitched squeak before splashing down in the water.

If that wasn't bad enough, with the sudden absence of Frisk's weight, the boat violently whipped in the opposite direction from where she fell. This time in his clumsy half-upright position, Asgore didn't have a hope of bracing himself and was practically flung into the water.

Things happened so quickly that Asgore didn't really know what happened next. Later, all he'd be able to remember was the sensation of being pitched to the side and a flash of bright colors before being submerged in a cold rush as he splashed down into the lake.

The first thing Asgore noticed after being pulled back to the surface by his life jacket was that the boat had capsized in all that chaos. Currently, it was pointed bottoms up to the sky, and he knew he couldn't fix that without pulling it back to shore first. The second thing he had noticed almost immediately after that, was the sound of Flowey screaming as if his life depended on it.

"We're all gonna diiiiiie!"

"Flowey!?" looking around, Asgore quickly found the little guy splashing about with his leaves little more than an arm's-length to his left. "Calm down, I got ya!"

Reaching out, the old monster hooked a finger around one of the strange child's roots. As soon as he did, Flowey coiled the appendages tightly about his arm, and seamlessly snaked his way up the limb before burying his face in his shoulder.

"Okay, that was super scary!"

"Yeah I know," Asgore smiled and patted the poor creature on the back of his head before looking around for his other passenger. "Hey Frisk," he called loudly, "are you alright!?"

"I'm fine!" the words slipped out from between clattering teeth as Frisk paddled into view from around the tip of the overturned boat. Asgore wasn't sure how she'd ended up so far from the rest of them, but at least she appeared to be okay.

"Alright then," Asgore wiped the water from his brow before reaching out to take her hand. "I guess this fishing trip is over!"

"Sooooooorry!" Frisk scrunched up her face as she let out an embarrassed whine.

*Dangit Frisk, they were having a moment!

"Oh no, if anything it's my fault," Asgore sighed and held Frisk tightly against him as he looked back to the still floating wreck. "I should've known better than to go out on that thing." That was true too, though he certainly planned on having a little chat with the guy at the rental shop over his idea of a safe and reliable family vehicle.

"So what now?" Frisk asked as she continued to shiver in a vain attempt to warm back up.

"Let's head back to land and get you two dry." Turning, Asgore lifted a hand and gestured at the nearby shore. "So, you think you're going to need a hand?"

"I'll be fine." Despite her shivering, the young girl gave an emphatic shake of her head. "I mean I have a life jacket so I'm not going to sink or anything!" Asgore nodded slowly at that. It was true, but he wouldn't want to get too far ahead of her, just in case anything happened.

"What about you?" Asgore furrowed his brow as an odd idea suddenly struck him. "You're a plant so, that means you float, right?"

"Maybe," Flowey shrugged as best he could without loosening his tight grip. "But I don't want to test that right now!"

"Okay, fair enough," despite the situation he couldn't help grinning at that. Despite all of the earlier awkwardness, he was starting to like this kid. He was just such an odd little character!

"Alright then," Asgore shook the grin from his face and repositioned himself to better paddle back towards the shore. "Let's get you two kids back on solid ground before you turn purple"

"I really am sorry about all this!" Frisk said as she began following closely next to him.

"Hey, it's not so bad," Asgore glanced to Frisk and smiled as he began to kick and paddle his way through the cold mountain lake. "Someday we are going to look back on all this, and laugh! I promise!"

* * *

"You know, I really do not like this," narrowing her eyes, Tilin turned and scanned all the humans moving around in crowds as she let out a throaty, nearly inaudible yowl of suspicion. "I know this sounds crazy, but I swear it feels like we're being watched!"

Sitting down her drink, Undyne followed her friend's gaze and calmly took in the sight. As far as she could see, nothing had changed at all around them, or at least nothing of note had anyway.

They were still surrounded by mostly-empty rows of round tables, exactly like the one they were sitting at. Alphys was still eating overpriced novelty con food. The park and the weather were still just as pleasant as they had been the entire day.

Finally, the throngs of nerds in attendance were still languidly walking to various booths, attractions, and speaking panels. All minding their own business as they searched for the elusively mythical, good time.

As far as Undyne could tell, no sane, normal person, would ever look at this scene and think of it as anything but an ordinary moment of everyday life. With this in mind, the former captain of the royal guard turned back to her furry friend and gave a quick shrug before flashing a toothy smile.

"You know what, I think you're right!" picking up her drink, Undyne tilted back in her chair before gesturing to Tilin with the tip of her straw. "You do sound crazy, now shut up and eat your churro punk!"

"You don't need to tease her!" Alphys said, rushing to Tilin's defense around a mouthful of over-seasoned ramen, at least until she swallowed it a second later. "I mean, we probably are being watched. We're the only monsters at a con full of humans. I don't think everyone's going to feel comfortable with that!"

"Why yes," Tilin said in a flat deadpan voice as she turned back to the reptilian scientist with an annoyed glare. "Thank you for implying I don't like humans, it really does mean the world to me."

"I-I," stammering, Alphy's dropped her chopsticks to the table as her eyes grew wide with panic. "That isn't what I..."

"Relax!" Undyne drew out the word as she frowned down at the cat-monster across the table from her. "The little fuzzball is just messing with you, riiiiiight?"

"Oh for crying out, yes fine, whatever!" letting out a breath, Tilin turned and resumed staring at the passing crowds, seemingly forgetting about them in an instant.

"Whatever indeed," muttering to herself, Undyne quickly shook her head and stood before offering a hand to her girlfriend. "So ya done?"

"Yeah!" bobbing her head in response, Alphys picked up her empty ramen bowl and took Undyne's hand with a big toothy grin. "Hey, would you mind if we went back to check out that stand with the Kissy Cutie dolls we saw earlier? I bet that line's thinned out a bit by now!"

"Sure thing!" She couldn't help returning that smile, making Alphy happy just felt too good. "Let's just finish here, and then we can go!" To emphasize this fact, Undyne turned around and tossed her now empty cup through the air toward a distant trash can, where it bounced once off the rim and into its open maw.

Grinning, she began pumping her fist in victory, only to go rigid as Tilin suddenly screamed out, "Get down!" At that same moment, Undyne felt the burning hot aura of magic flaring up behind her. Without a thought, Undyne spun even as she drew forth magic to conjure the spear of energy that appeared in her hands with an electric crackle.

In the chaos of the moment, Undyne didn't actually recognize the bright red sphere flying at her as a fireball. At the time, she only knew it was a threat and thus acted accordingly. Holding her weapon tight, the former Captain of The Royal Guard planted her feet firmly on the ground and swung the spear like a bat, smack dab into the ball of fiery death.

With a grunt, Undyne gritted her teeth as the shock of impact traveled up her arms. Despite that, her mouth curled into a wide toothy grin as the fireball was sent flying into the air, only to fall to the grassy earth harmlessly, hundreds of meters away.

"Holy crap!" Tilin stood there with her jaw hanging open for only half a moment before narrowing her eyes in suspicion. "Hey, you brought that spear out awfully quick. Were you expecting this!?"

"No, but I was expecting something," Undyne shrugged without taking her eyes away from the source of the attack. "You're not the only one that can tell when they're being watched ya know!"

"Bravo!" That voice, along with the sound of slow clapping, was like an eerie out-of-place calm in a sea of growing chaos. The illusion of peace brought forth by the suddenness of the attack had all but given way to panic now. All around them panicking voices could be heard as the crowds pushed, and even climbed over in a bid for safety.

The only exception were the three human figures standing directly in front of Undyne. Of those three, her attention wasn't on the blond-haired boy with a fireball in the palm of his hands, nor the red-haired girl brandishing a bat. Instead her attention was focused on the tall, black-haired teen that was only now letting his hands fall after ending his show of mock applause.

"I've heard many things about you, oh great hero of the underground," Artur's smile only grew as he said this. "I've gotta say, it's nice to see that wasn't all hype!"

"Yeah I'm awesome, what can I say!" despite how flip her words may have sounded, there was no lightness in Undyne's tone, the situation was far too serious for that. After all, these weren't just a couple of punks following her around like she'd suspected. These were human magic users.

Worse yet, two of them were wearing black fitted robes with a colorful, coiling snake pattern on them. The younger blond-haired boy's robe had a yellow snake while the apparent ringleaders were red. She didn't know what the colors meant but the outfits themselves were unmistakable. Those were Battle Mage robes, and Asgore had only taught her one thing about fighting Battle Mages.

Never fight them head to head. Not unless you outnumber them at least ten to one.

"So, what's this all about?" Undyne tried her best to sound casual as her mind raced to find a way to keep them talking. The longer they talked, the less likely they were to attack, and with Alphys nearby, she was very much fond of that idea.

"We're here for her actually," the oldest of the trio pointed a finger directly at the trembling figure of the scientist, and Undyne felt her blood run cold.

"What!?" Alphys was wide-eyed as she poked her head out from her hiding spot under the table. "B-b-but why, what did I ever do to you!?"

"Nothing, but I know you've been harvesting Core Magic." At that, the ringleader made a teasing little tisk-tisk sound as he wagged his finger in mock disapproval. To the surprise of nobody that knew her, Alphys went pale and gulped at the sudden revelation. "Now, if you would be so kind as to hand over your supply, I think we could let you go about your day, relatively unharmed."

"Wow, you guys haven't thought this through, have you?" Tilin glared at the ringleader as she stood atop a table while impatiently tapping a foot.

At that moment, Undyne desperately wished she could murder her with her mind! The last thing they needed right now was for the little furball to antagonize these guys. Unfortunately, it would seem Tilin was entirely immune the murderous intent her fellow monster was sending her way.

Heck, she didn't even seem to notice the repeated cutting motion Undyne was making along her neck. Even though she seemed to be making it each and every time Tilin uttered a new syllable.

"I mean, c'mon!" Tilin gestured all about and practically laughed as she looked back to the boy with a condescending tilt of her head. "There aren't any walls here, hardly any obstacles, we're literally standing out in the open! If we decided to run, what could you possibly do to stop us!?"

While Tilin actually had a point there, Undyne still had to choke back the urge to run over and strangle her for forgetting that Alphys was there with them. Yes, she and Tilin could almost certainly escape from this without a problem. But her little cuddle lizard was not a well-known sprinter, and wouldn't be able to escape on foot. At least not as easily as they could!

"You know, you're right actually!" Despite his admission, Artur's grin only grew more wicked as he removed a hand from an oversized pocket and twisted three fingers into a tight, interlocking position. "How about I fix that right now?!"

Undyne only had time to widen her eyes, before the boy with the evil smile snapped his fingers.


	26. Chapter 26

Undertale: Long Road  
By: Nathan Weaver  
Chapter: 26

* * *

"So," Undyne said, breaking the silence as she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Was that supposed to do something, or were you just setting the mood?" As she asked, all three of the monsters looked around in search of anything that had changed. But no matter how hard they looked, all they saw were empty booths and abandoned tables.

This was especially confusing because they had all just felt the mage cast a spell when he snapped his fingers the moment before. It felt like really powerful magic too. But, no matter how long Undyne stood poised to leap into action should flame engulf them, or the ground turned into pudding, or whatever, nothing happened. By now, even the three humans were beginning to look perplexed by this, and they were the ones that had attacked them.

"Boss," Nigel drew out the word as he shuffled uneasily on his feet. "What just happened?"

"Later," Artur snapped with a wave of his hand.

"No really, why didn't that…"

"I'll, tell you, later!" the oldest of the mages practically snarled as he glared at his underling. "But for now, how about we have a little change of plans." Once again, that same malicious grin returned to Artur's face as he aimed a finger at the monsters as though it was a deadly weapon. "Nigel, Helis, wreck their crap!"

"Come on then!" growling through bared teeth, Undyne twirled her spear through the air before bringing its tip to a stop pointing toward the mages. "I'm serving free beat-downs today, and there's plenty to go around!"

*I give that an eight out of ten. Solid effort.

"No, please!" Alphys said, nearly pleading as she looked up at Undyne from beneath the table with big scared eyes. "You and Tilin could still escape from all this. I don't want you two getting hurt just trying to protect me!"

"Well, too bad!" tightening her grip on the spear, Undyne took several steps forward and planted herself between the tables and the three mages. "I am not abandoning you here Alphys, not ever, got it?"

"Yeah, what she said," without pause, Tilin hopped down from the table and walked up next to Undyne."Besides, I've always wanted to fight a human!"

"How nice!" Nigel said as he stepped forward as if to greet the two monsters. "The kitty wants to come out and play!"

"You know I'm not really a cat, right?"

"You know I don't really care, right?"

"Please!" Artur groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Just roast them already!"

"Well you heard the man," with a chuckle, the young blond-haired mage held out his hand as another flickering fireball ignited atop his palm. "I'm afraid It's time for you both to die!"

"How about no!" With that, Tilin leapt forward and drew her blade in a single motion as she sprinted in a blur that even Undyne struggled to follow.

But for all her speed, the mage never batted an eye or even seemed to be at all concerned. Instead, he merely took the fireball and slammed it to the ground, instantly igniting the earth around him in a circle of ever burning flame.

"Not so close," Nigel cackled like a madman as Tilin came skidding to a wide-eyed halt. "You wouldn't want to get burned would you?!"

Priming for retaliation, the mage aimed a finger at the tiny warrior and grinned. "Bang!" With a flash, a plume of fire exploded from his fingertips, cooking the air as it raced to meet her.

Hissing, the cat-like monster leapt several meters only to let out a pained breath as smoke trailed behind her. "My tail!" hopping about on both feet, Tilin grabbed the appendage and blew on its smoldering tip several times before glaring at the smug human. "That hurt you jerk!"

"You know, that's kinda the point."

Taking advantage of the mages distraction, Undyne reared back and hurled her spear at him. Sending it flying at his chest as she staggered under the force of her own throw.

"Oh please." With a wave of Nigel's hand, a blue orb ignited above him and grew to the size of a basketball. Before this sphere finished growing an azure bolt burst out of it. Streaking through the air, the bolt shot into Undyne's weapon, knocking it to the ground with a clatter.

"Did you really think I'd never dealt with projectiles before?" Crossing his arms, Nigel turned and glared at Undyne as the orb circled above him. "Honestly, what do you all take me for?!"

"I take you for a friggin moron!" Leaping out from behind a distant table, Tilin hurled several glowing knives at the mage, one after another. Just as Undyne felt her spirit rise however, that blue orb from before shot a series of bolts to match the attacks; precisely hammering each of the blades and sending them harmlessly to the ground.

As the last of the knives fell, Undyne stared wordlessly, her mouth slightly agape as she reeled at what she had just witnessed. While that had not been a perfect ambush, Tilin's attack came from well outside the mage's line of sight, and that magic had still repelled it flawlessly. It was almost as if that floating ball could target things all on its own. She had never even heard of a spell that could do something like that. Yet here this brat was using it like it was some sort of party trick.

Undyne was only beginning to realize the implications of that when Nigel turned to her and cackled like some kid winning big at some board game.

"You get it now, I can tell." Smiling, Nigel slowly shook his head and took a deep breath as he forced his laughter under control. "With my Aegis of Inferno, you can't hit me. No matter the angle, or how many times you try, it will always end the exact same way."

"Then I guess we're at an impasse," Undyne said with a seriousness that she hadn't felt in a long time. "Maybe we can't hit you, but you can't touch us either. After all, I can knock away those fireballs of yours all day!"

"I can't touch you, is that what you think?" Nigel's grin grew several shades more intense as he stared back at her. "You know, even if that was true, fire isn't the only way I can hurt you!"

Undyne was about to ask what he meant by that, when Alphys shrieked, "What is that?!" Wide-eyed, the scientist pointed a hand out from beneath the table as a mob of Nigel's little black imps moved in on all fours, surrounding them all her as their teeth gleamed in the sunlight.

"Cute, aren't they?" Nigel asked with a little clap of his hands before gesturing around to the creatures lovingly. "And they're so helpful too. I really don't like getting my hands dirty, that's for the help and all. But with these guys around, I don't have to do a thing!"

It was then that the first of the creatures let out a screech and leapt into the air, soaring towards Undyne with its claws extended. Without thought the hero fish swung her weapon, knocking the imp far off into the distance with a pained cry that made her smile. But, as it hit the earth the beast didn't get back up. Instead, it broke apart and scattered as it crumbled into ash.

"Well, okay, so you're stupid pets are really weak!" Spinning, Undyne swung her spear to knock away an imp that had leaped at her from behind, before launching the weapon at another imp, pinning it to a picnic table. "Seriously though, I could do this all day!"

"Yes, they're weak. That's kinda the point you simpleton," Nigel said with a derisive sneer. "So tell me, raise of hands, how many of you have ever heard of a zerg rush?"

Out of all the monsters there, only Alphys raised a hand in acknowledgment before letting out a defeated, "Oh no."

"Oh yes!" with a roar of triumph, the young mage made an upward motion of his hands as if he were beckoning something to grow from the earth.

As he did, numerous fires ignited in the area. Some came to life on top of tables, or beneath seats. One even burst into life on the roof of the stand where Undyne bought her lunch. But, no matter where these fires began new imps emerged from them, coming to life in a chorus of scraping claws and angry violent hisses.

"Go ahead," said the mage as he repeated the same motion from before, "kill as many as you like." With every motion of his hands, more fires ignited and more of those imps burst into existence until they were all nearly drowning in a sea of the creatures. "It doesn't matter how many you beat, not when I can summon them by the thousands!"

With that, a swarm of the imps shrieked and pressed forward as one, their claws gleaming as they collectively went for Undyne's throat. Snatching the first creature from the air, the hero spun and slammed it back into the rest of them, sending an entire pack of the imps back to the ground in a tangle of limbs.

With a wince, Undyne shook her hand as agony shot up her arm from holding the flaming creature. Already blisters could be seen along her fingers where she grabbed it. But painful as the wound was, the warrior hardly had time to register the damage before another one of the beasts ran up and swiped at her legs.

Dodging the attack, the warrior danced back and let loose a kick, sending the imp flying into its compatriots. The imps were indeed weak, there wasn't any doubt about that now. A blow was all it took to take one down. But just as quickly as she could take them out, more fires would ignite, and more beasts arose from them to take the place of those she had beaten.

Undyne hated to admit it, but the brat was right. The longer this fight went on the worse her odds would get. Eventually, even she'd be overwhelmed, or simply exhausted and then who knew what would happen to Alphys. Before that happened, something had to change.

Before she could think of a way to do that, the warrior's thoughts were torn from the problem as Alphys crawled out from beneath her table and began screaming. "Please" the saurian screeched hysterically as a half dozen imps leaped upon her. "Somebody, please help me!"

With her eyes wide, Undyne arched back and summoned another spear to her hand. But, before she could use it Tilin appeared and zipped across the grass in a blur. Striking then re-sheathing her blade only after the creatures were crumbling into a heap behind her.

"Annoying," with a sigh, Tilin rolled her eyes and casually threw a glowing knife into the skull of the single surviving imp approaching from behind. "There's really no end to these guys, is there?."

"Tilin!" Undyne hollered loudly between breaths, knocking away several of the beasts with her spear as she ran to meet the others. "Perfect timing, can you protect Alphys for me?"

"Really?" the cat visibly sank at the request. "C'mon, I hardly ever see any action anymore!"

"I know, but I can't exactly go all out if I'm worried about her."

""Ugh, okay fine!" Tilin said with a groan as she drew her blade and put her back to the bedraggled scientist. "I'll protect her just this once. But you better kick their butts hard!"

"Gladly!" Grinning madly, Undyne turned and walked forward several paces before taking a deep breath and stabbing the end of her spear into the ground.

"Hey, hotheads!" the warrior hollered at the top of her lungs, the words echoing a moment later. For but a second, Undyne worried the creatures might not respond to her taunt. But that concern vanished as the beasts turned to stare at her. Their eyes tracking her motion as she stepped away from the spear.

"Good," muttering to herself, Undyne raised her arms and exposed her empty hands for the world to see. "Hello punks. I'm completely unarmed!" Despite her statement, if anything her smile grew even wilder at that proclamation. "So what are you waiting for. Come and get it!"

Needing no further goading, the beasts rushed toward Undyne with their lips pulled back in a collective snarl. Rather than panicking however, the hero-fish reached back, latched onto the nearest table and strained, hauling it forward with all her might.

"Hey," Undyne said as she flipped the furniture through the air. "Your table is ready!"

Growling in triumph Undyne slammed the table to the ground with a crack. Crushing several imps in an instant as their bodies blew apart into clouds of ash. Not content to leave it there, she brought the table up once again and repositioned, before pounding another pack of the creatures to a pulp.

From there Undyne repeated the process, flattening wave after wave with the flat end of a piece of lawn furniture until there was hardly an imp left standing. It was not until the few remaining creatures scurried from the path of her onslaught, that Undyne ended the attack.

By this point, the table was far more than a little beat up. It was more a circular collection of cracks and splinters than anything resembling something people were intended to sit at. But because it somehow kept its rounded shape, the warrior decided to get one last use from it.

Hefting it to her shoulder, Undyne took a breath and built up speed as she began spinning in a circle. After she was certain she was going as fast as possible, the warrior let go of the table and sent it sailing towards Nigel's head like a frisbee, just because she could.

"I told you!" with a snarl, the mage made an upward motion as a beam of flame shot from his fingers like a laser. Undyne barely had time to leap away as it tore through the ground. The table had no such luck and was neatly sliced in two as both halves were sent flying in opposite directions, away from the mage.

For his part, Nigel glared daggers at the warrior monster, before finally deigning to speak.

"You, cannot, hit me." the mage emphasized each and every single word, as though he was dealing with the biggest idiot he'd ever met. "Seriously, don't you get it yet? You cannot win. I'm a freaking mage, and you're only a monster. I'm like a god compared to you!"

"Really?" Blinking, Tilin screwed up her face in an expression that was equal parts skeptical and very perplexed. "Who in the world has ever heard of a god named Nigel, of all things?"

The mage slumped at the comment and began muttering to himself in a drawn-out groan. Undyne couldn't hear what he was saying exactly, but at that moment she could've sworn she heard the words, "It's so lame!" passing by his lips in a whisper.

*Kitty. Your words. They wound him so.

Without pause, Undyne seized on the distraction and lunged for her spear. Snatching it up, she launched the weapon in a single fluid motion, skewering two imps in an instant as they circled her in search of an opening. But her attack didn't end there. Before the first weapon left her fingers, four new spears appeared above and hovered in place waiting to be used.

Although Undyne could've thrown the weapons without touching them, she grabbed each of the spears by hand and hurled them one by one into the closest imps she could find. With a series of animalistic cries, the creatures began to run away only to be picked off as shafts of light pierced their bodies.

"Huh?" Snapping out of his daze, Nigel gaped at his minions as they fled the rampaging fish.

"Augh, alright I'll admit it, you're actually pretty decent. But that doesn't change anything!" Slowly, the mage began motioning upward once more as he prepared to call forth another wave of his imps. "No matter how many of them you beat, I can always summon-"

Before he could finish, the mage's eyes went wide and he flinched as Undyne reared back and launched another spear at his face. As the weapon flew through the air, the orb above Nigel shot off a bolt that knocked the shaft to the earth, just like all those that came before

"Dude, seriously?" Nigel's eyes grew even wider as he stared at the weapon on the ground. "That could've really hurt you know!"

*Uh. That's kinda the point. Moron.

"Oh?" Undyne grinned as more spears appeared above her shoulders. "I thought you said hitting you was impossible?"

"It is."

"I don't believe you." At that, her grin grew even wider, fully exposing her pointed teeth. "If it was, you wouldn't have been startled like that. You've been lying all this time, haven't you?"

"No, I, have not!" the mage growled angrily as fires burst to life in his hands. "I already told you, I am great, I am mighty, I'm friggin invincible! How dare a monster like you doubt that."

"Prove it!" Chuckling between her teeth, Undyne held her arms out wide in an invitation to violence. "No more hiding behind your pets, no more games. If you think you're really so great, then come and get me yourself!"

"Fine," hissing through his teeth, the mage gave a smile to match the warriors own as the flame in his hands swelled out to the size of bonfires. "Besides, I think I'll enjoy this more anyway!"

As Nigel brought up his hands to strike, the remaining imps fell to the ground and wailed as their bodies began crumbling into embers. While they fell, the fire in the mage's palms grew in size, swelling ever larger as he cut the flow of magic he was feeding them. When the last of his pets finally vanished, the column of flame in the mage's hands was nearly the size of a truck. It was then that the mage brought his arms forward and launched the massive fireball as it sped towards Undyne in a hot rush.

Leaping to the side, Undyne narrowly avoided the scorching attack and hit the ground with a roll. Quickly popping back to her feet, she snatched a spear out of the air and threw it at her opponent, only to see his aegis knock it to the side once more. But she didn't give up on the assault. Instead, she grabbed more spears and threw them at him in a continuous assault of light and impact, one after another.

But no matter how many attacks she threw, the result was the same. The orb hovering over the mage knocked them aside without fail. No matter where she aimed, or how she tried to throw it off, that stupid aegis would precisely blast her attacks out of the air as if it was some sort of machine. That never changed, but there was something that Undyne noticed.

Every time that fireball shot off a bolt it, flickered and contracted before swelling back to its original size.

Undyne barely had time to notice before she had to leap to avoid another plume of fire. She couldn't keep dodging these large blasts forever. Undyne realized that even before her feet came back in contact with the ground. But now, thanks to what she'd noticed, she was sure she didn't have to. She could beat this brat. Of that, she was absolutely certain.

Digging her feet into the earth, Undyne took a deep breath and hurled one of her spears at the mage's face. Like before, Nigel's eyes went huge as he saw the weapon coming for him and he flinched back, even as his aegis shot down the attack.

Capitalizing on the weakness, the hero gritted her teeth and unleashed a torrent of spears. Each appearing in the air before she snatched them and threw them in a blur of motion.

"Cut that out!" Nigel ordered as he brought up his hands to shield his face.

"Why should I?"

"Because," Nigel said as he shot off another focused beam of fire at the fish, "it's annoying!"

"So what!" snatching another spear from the air, Undyne deflected the beam with the tip of her weapon. Reflecting it halfway back upon itself, before it exploded between them with an earsplitting thud.

"You don't get to call timeout!" With an angry growl, Undyne rushed forward until she stood just outside the wall of flame protecting him. "Not when you're playing with people's lives!"

Barely slowing down, the warrior swung her spear upward in a wide arc, just missing the mage as he stumbled backward.

"Who cares?" Grinning viciously, Nigel waved his arms as he flew back and the wall of fire surged forward. Her single eye wide, Undyne leapt to escape the approaching flames, but not before her clothing began to singe under the intensity of the heat.

"I'm just being honest." Shaping his hands into guns, the mage began shooting streaks of fire at the hero's feet.

Continuing backward, Undyne avoided the blasts, dancing away from them in a flurry of motion before coming to a rest where she first began her charge.

"People talk about fighting for others, but at the end of the day we're in this for ourselves."

With a clap of Nigel's hands, the wall of fire in front of him began moving like a living thing. Slithering along the earth like a snake, the flame struck, circling around her and spinning in place to cut off all routes of escape.

"Tell me monster, why shouldn't I treat this like a game?" Without waiting for an answer, the mage raised a hand and began firing bolts of flame at the monster; forcing her to narrowly dodge or knock away the blasts within the burning confines of her prison.

"That's all this is after all!" Reaching out, Nigel made a choking gesture in the air and the fire around Undyne began to constrict. "Life, death, it's all one big game, and I am the one that's gonna win it!"

"Are you still spouting that crap?" Summoning forth a second spear, Undyne glared at the mage through crackling fire as she drew her weapons back in preparation to strike. "What nonsense. Here, let me show you how a real warrior fights."

Inhaling deeply, Undyne began to spin in a blur of motion, her spears swinging about wildly as sudden gusts of wind clawed at the flames encircling her. At first, Nigel didn't know what to make of the sight. But as he watched, a howling vortex sprang to life around the monster and carried the flames high into the air, where they scattered and fell to the earth like snow.

*Behold. The power of anime.

"What!?" Staring up at the sky, Nigel stood there flummoxed as he caught one of the falling sparks in the palm of his hands. "But, how could my fire be put out like that?"

"Easy." Swaying slightly, Undyne turned to the mage and aimed a spear at him as she tried to catch her breath. "There's a huge difference between you and me, a difference that can't be made up with strength alone."

"Bull-crap!" Stomping forward Nigel screamed in frustration, his eyes blazing as he wildly gestured to the enemy that stood before him. "Look at you, you're burned, you're broken, you can barely stay on your feet anymore. And you're really telling me you're going to win,

that there's this huge difference between us? That's bullcrap! What is it then? What's this thing you have that I don't? Go on, tell me!" Gasping for breath, the young mage glared angrily at the warrior, his words echoing off into the distance as he waited for an answer.

"I told you I'd show you didn't I?" Grinning, Undyne dropped her weapons to the ground and chuckled under her breath as she glanced up to the sky. "But remember, you asked for this!" Crossing her arms, the warrior took a breath and let out a battle-cry as she reached up to the sky.

As Undyne's voice echoed throughout the park, glowing spears began to appear one by one in the sky above, forming a deadly circular pattern aimed at the mage in the center. Within seconds, the number of spears multiplied. Growing from a mere handful to more closely resembling a sea of blazing stars that could be seen even in the light of day.

Worse yet, from Nigel's perspective, with each additional spear an electric hum filled the air, becoming louder by the second. But it was not merely the sound of the attack the mage was hearing. He was actually feeling the magic of the warrior rattling his teeth as it poured off of her and fueled the growing attack.

"How?" His mouth moving wordlessly, Nigel stood boggling at the sight before looking back to Undyne in utter disbelief. "You're only a monster. You can't you have this much magic?!"

"I can, I do." Chuckling to herself, the hero looked to Nigel with a confident toothy grin as determination glimmered in her eye. "That's what it means to fight for the sake of others. Even if it rips me apart, even if I die. I'll do everything I can to keep people safe from you!"

With a scream of effort, Undyne brought both her arms downward and innumerable spears plummeted towards the earth in a streak of blue.

In an instant, Nigel's aegis exploded into action, shooting down spears in a flurry of twisting bolts. But unlike before, the orb began to violently convulse under the assault, warping and twisting in place as it struggled to turn aside all that dared threaten its domain.

But, despite the visible strain the aegis was under, despite the utter enormity of damage raining down upon it; somehow, despite all that, Nigel's aegis continued to burn brightly.

"It's useless!" Cackling, the mage grinned lopsidedly as he held up a hand to shield his eyes from the light show above. "Useless-useless-useless. My magic can't be beaten by the likes of you. You're going to die, right here, and then we'll take your friend anyway!"

"No," grinding her teeth, the veins bulged in Undyne's neck as she brought her hands to the sky once more. "You will not!" Screaming at the top of her lungs, the hero brought her arms down in a sharp fluid motion, and for just a second, light shot from both of her eye-sockets.

In that instant, it was as though a singular pillar of light shot down from the very sky itself. The ground rumbled, and the air grew hot and electric. Out of all those that watched this spectacle unfold, not a one of them said a word. Not one, save for the oldest of the three humans, who leaned toward his companion and uttered a single word under his breath.

"Helis."

There was no time for anything else. Even Nigel, whose perception of the world slowed to a crawl, did not have time to comprehend what happened before his aegis flickered and died.

"Wha?" it was the only word his bewildered mind could form at that instant before he looked up with wide eyes and the heavens crashed down upon him.

*So. What I said about the power of anime earlier. That may have been a little premature.


	27. Chapter 27

Undertale: Long Road  
By: Nathan Weaver  
Chapter: 27  
==

The sky fell. That's what it felt like as Undyne stared at the blinding blue light pouring from the heavens. The warrior had no clue where all this raw power came from, but it didn't matter. The magic came pouring out of her all the same, crackling along her limbs as it shot up and joined the storm raining down on her opponent.

As powerful as Undyne's attack was, as much as it bucked and strained against all her attempts to control it, the magic still couldn't last forever. Mere seconds after it began, the stream of light pouring from the sky slowed to a trickle, before vanishing entirely. In its wake, the only thing that could be heard were the breaths of the woman that brought the attack as she stood among clouds of settling ash.

"Well, dang!" Tilin scratched her head as she jumped on a table and looked back and forth between the glowing-eyed Undyne and the giant pincushion of spears she'd created. "Okay I knew you were strong, but where the heck did that come from!?" With her eyes wide, the tiny monster gestured wildly at the shafts, almost as if she couldn't believe they were real. For her part, Undyne couldn't quite blame her for that. It hadn't really felt real to her either.  
"Don't know." Standing straight, Undyne took a deep breath and aimed the tip of her spear directly at the mages leader. "But there's a whole lot more where that came from!"

Her legs trembled as she said the words. Truth be told, wherever this power had come from, she didn't want to summon any more of it. Her body already felt like it was tearing itself apart. So who knew what would happen if she kept taking in more of it. Even so, wrecking her body would be a bargain if it meant beating this guy and keeping her friends safe.

"Listen up!" summoning her strength, the warrior's voice boomed across the park as she took her first step toward the black-haired mage. "You saw what happened to your lackey. If you're still brave enough to fight me after that, then let's get it over with!"

But even as she made the declaration, Undyne couldn't shake the sense that something just wasn't right. For starters, at some point, the girl that had been with the other two mages had somehow slipped away. Try as she might, no matter where the warrior looked, she just couldn't find her.

What really unsettled her though, was the utterly calm, almost bored expression that the lead mage wore as she slowly approached him. She'd half expected the brat to run off, or at least look nervous after that summoner of his went down. Instead, at best he looked maybe a little irritated as she came to a stop five meters or so before him. Even that, she wouldn't have put money on.

"So incredibly brash." Grinning, Artur glanced at Undyne as though only now noticing her. "Tell me, Protector, do you really think you should be challenging me at a time like this?"

"Oh, get over yourself!" Undyne groaned and gave the young man a flat glare that practically oozed with disbelief. "Do you think you're such a badass, that I'd just give up without trying?"

"No, not especially," Artur chuckled, even as his sharp eyes slid past her. "But ya know, it isn't exactly smart to pick a new fight right now. Not when you haven't even finished the last one!"

"Wha..." before Undyne could finish, the sound of flame rang out and she spun, sweeping her spear through the air. Later, if anyone had asked how she knew the attack was coming, she wouldn't have had a good answer for them. Maybe it was honed senses or just plain instinct. But the honest truth was, even she was surprised when she turned to knock aside an all-too-familiar fireball from the air.

"YOU!" Snarling, the summoner that Undyne thought she'd already beaten, stood with his back to the wall of spears as fires flared to life in either hand. "I, am going, TO MURDER YOU!"

Eyes wide with shock, the warrior leapt, dodging to the side as the human launched another fireball toward her. How could this be happening? The thought raced through her mind again and again as she tracked her surroundings. There just wasn't any way that kid could've taken her attack, not without getting seriously harmed anyway. Yet here he was stomping toward as an expression of murder danced along his features.

Gritting her teeth, the warrior pushed the question from her mind and charged forward. How he survived didn't matter, she just had to finish this quickly, before he could bring out another one of those blue spheres. If she didn't, the same struggle from before would begin anew and this time she wasn't so sure she'd win it.

But, before she even made it halfway there, there was a flash of green and suddenly the girl from earlier was right next to her with a bat in hand, ready to strike.

Moving like she was, Undyne couldn't turn or dodge away. She could only watch as time came to a crawl and the bat slammed into her with a grisly crack. For an endless moment, agony became her world. There was no up or down, no friends in need or fiends to defend them from. There was only Pain. Pain that chased away her thoughts, and sang the song of oblivion.

For at that point in time, the world faded and nothingness called upon her, surrounded her, as though it was a most comforting blanket. And despite knowing what it would mean to all those she would protect, Undyne almost gave in to it.  
"...UNDYNE!"

With a blink, the world rushed back and Undyne threw out her arms to stop her fall just before hitting the earth. Touching down the warrior pitched to the side, rolling to avoid another fireball as it struck the ground she'd just occupied. Close as the flame was, she did her best to ignore the heat and looked around to study her surroundings. It was then that the girl that had struck Undyne vanished from existence in an all-too-familiar flash of light.

A teleporter, they had a freaking teleporter! Suddenly, how that brat had survived wasn't such a mystery. That girl must have moved him, teleported him away from the attack before it even had a chance to hit him. That had been the most amazingly powerful magic she'd used in her entire life, and they cheated to avoid it!

Infuriating as that was, Undyne hardly had time to dwell on it as she scrambled to her feet and took a defensive stance. Rearing back, the summoner launched another churning flame, even as the warrior drew back her weapon to slap the blast aside. But right as she began her swing, the girl from before appeared next to her and slammed her bat into Undyne with a resounding crack, hitting her in the exact spot she'd struck before.

Pain blasted through the warrior's mind as she felt something inside break, but this time she gritted her teeth and held on firm. She did not care how much this hurt, or how badly torn up she'd be by the end. No matter what, she was going to protect her friends at any cost.

With a fierce growl, Undyne powered through the pain and swung at the fire, even as the girl mage vanished from sight. But before it could hit, there was an explosion of white light, like staring into the sun, and the warrior was flung back as her arms pinwheeled through the air.

The world went silent. Save for a high pitched ringing, there wasn't a sound to be heard. Looking up, Undyne stared into the sky as clouds raced across her field of vision.

Cloud's weren't supposed to do that, were they? She didn't know why but for some reason the sight seemed wrong to her. It was only at that moment that she realized it wasn't the sky moving, it was her. She must have been thrown back by an explosion when that brats fireball burst mid-air in front of her.

The realization did nothing to help her though. Before she had a chance to brace herself, her body slammed down hard into the earth as she opened her mouth in a silent scream. And, at that exact same instant, the unnatural glow coming from the warrior's eyes flickered and died like burnt-out lightbulbs.

Helpless, Undyne gasped for air and tried to force her body to move, to respond, to do anything at all so could defend herself. But no matter how much she struggled and swore her heavy limbs refused to so much as budge an inch. It was then, at that moment of utter weakness, that Helis appeared, standing above the warrior with her baseball bat raised high into the air.

In that instant of recognition, of seeing that girls face and realizing the situation she was in, Undyne gave up. This was it, this was how it would end. This frail child she had dismissed as a nonthreat would be the one to take her life, and there wasn't anything she could do about it.

Staring up at the girl, the warrior let out a weary breath and rested her head upon the earth as she waited for the inevitable to happen. She'd always known death would come for her. Knew, that as a hero she might have to give her life for others. For years, she thought she was ready for that. She thought she'd made peace with her mortality, and was ready to go at any time.

But here, in this time and place, there was no peace, no acceptance. In its place, there was only bitter regret. Regret, that she hadn't been able to keep her friends safe, hadn't been able to stay with Alphys a little longer. In that instant, lying upon the ground bloodied and beaten, she would have given anything, done anything, just to stay and see things through.

Although she would never admit it, burning tears began to blur Undyne's vision and she wondered if maybe that girl's bat would come down now, and spare her that indignity. But, just as she was having that thought, the warrior noticed that the girl's hands were shaking. Blinking the moisture from her eyes, the warrior looked at the young girl and saw a myriad of emotions dancing upon her face. She saw the fear, the anger, and the desperation, all warring against something else. Something, soft and difficult to define.

Before she could figure out what that was though, the girl raised the bat up higher, as if she was gathering the strength to strike. But no matter how much she grit her teeth or ground her fingers into the handle, she couldn't seem to bring it down on the warrior. And eventually, the girl let out a breath and let the weapon come to rest at her side before looking to Undyne and mouthing two words the monster would never hear.

*Helis has decided to spare you.

It was then, that the sounds that vanished from the warrior's world, all came rushing back like a locomotive. Smoldering fires crackled, grass blew in the wind, and Alphys screamed at the top of her lungs as she rushed to her partner's side.  
"...UNDYNE!"

With a twitch of her ears, the fallen warrior looked to see Alphys plowing her way toward her, despite the efforts of the feline figure dragging its heels as she clung to her shirt. Credit where it's due though. Tilin managed to hold on for an entire four seconds before the scientist pulled free to kneel at her side.

"Undyne," sobbing, Alphys threw her arms around the warrior's shoulders, holding her tight as the human girl retreated with a guilty look on her face. "Speak to me, you're okay aren't you?"

"Peachy," with a cough, Undyne slowly tried to work her way onto her elbows, only to blanch and lean into Alphys as the world spun around her.

"No, don't move," rummaging through her bag, Alphys pulled out tiny little rectangular foil package before pushing it toward Undyne. "Here, eat this Astro-Bar, it'll fix you up some."

"There's no time!" Undyne said with a hiss of pain as she pushed the healing item away. "They're after you remember. You've gotta get out of here!"

"No, I won't," Alphys shook her head, even as a fresh crop of tears began welling up in her eyes. "I can't just let you get hurt, not because of me!"

"Nobody else has to die here today," Speaking loudly, Artur approached the two in long strides, coming to a stop only when he stood with Helis to his side. Behind him, Nigel followed along in an obvious fury, practically stomping in place with every footstep. Despite all this, he came to a stop shortly after his master did and bit back his tongue while waiting for him to speak.

"Trust me, I didn't want any of this." With a quiet sigh, Artur turned his eyes to the scientist and studied her for a long second before shaking his head in a way that seemed to ooze with regret. "In all honesty, if I didn't need you so badly, I'd just let you go. None of you really deserve this!"

"B-but, y-you don't need me!" Alphys stuttered and squeezed her eyes tight before taking a big breath. "I don't know why you want Core Magic but I can't help you with that anymore, I'm out!"  
"What?!"

"It's true!" her eyes wide, the scientist gulped as her hands grasped about in a panic. "I gave the rest to Frisk before she left. So I don't have any more right now, honest!"

"Oh is that all?" chuckling, the young man shook his head and relaxed before looking at Alphys with a smile. "Doctor, we know you've been supplying that girl all summer. You wouldn't be able to do that, unless, you had a way of getting more. Maybe with a machine at that lab of yours?"

Undyne swore under her breath, her knuckles popping as she squeezed them in frustration. Things were getting even worse than she thought. Not only did these psycho's know that Frisk had what they wanted, but they'd figured out they could get more at the lab as well. At this rate, they'd take Alphys to get it for them, and when they realized they needed a donor they probably wouldn't settle for only taking a little.

No. Despite how badly hurt she was, she had to get Alphys out of there before that happened. But, despite that determination, the warrior wasn't sure she could make that a reality. It wasn't just that she was injured, her whole body felt heavy and weird. It was almost like walking into quicksand or dripping away like an ice cream cone in the summer. It made her want to find a hole and crawl into it, or maybe check into a hospital.

Either way, Undyne knew that if she let these guys take Alphys, there was no way she'd be able to live with herself. Maybe she'd tell herself that it was out of her hands, that she'd done all she could. But when she was alone at night, staring up at the ceiling, she knew she wouldn't be able to lie to herself.

Alphys would be gone, and it would be all her fault.

It was with that horrible thought that Undyne's arm brushed against something plasticky, and she looked down to see the Astro-Bar Alphys had offered her, lying discarded on the ground. It was only a minor healing item. It wouldn't be enough to put her back in this fight but at least it was something. If nothing else, it might give her a few moments where she could move around without being completely useless. It wasn't much, but as she tore the bar open and threw it into her mouth a plan began forming somewhere in the back of her mind.

"Stop that."

"What are you talking about?" Undyne quickly swallowing her food.

"I'm not doing anything!"

"Sure you aren't," sighing, the dark-haired mage turned to the warrior and tapped at the side of his head. "I've seen that look, I know what you're thinking. You're racking your mind trying to think of some last second gambit to get out of this. It is understandable, but all pulling a crazy stunt like that will do is force me to kill you."

"Like you even could!" Undyne spat back defiantly and sat forward to glare into the mage's eyes. "I bet your stupid spells don't even work on monsters!"

"Is that what you think?" the corners of the mage twisted into a little grin at that. It was a subtle expression, in fact at any other time Undyne might have even missed it. At that moment though, that tiny little smile filled her with dread.

"There are a few issues with that idea," Artur began as he held out two fingers as if to illustrate a point. "First off, a good mage's have many spells in their arsenal. So even if I couldn't use that spell you shouldn't assume I can't use others."

"And the second problem?"

"That's," the black-haired mage paused, and tilted his head from side to side as though he was struck by a curious realization. "Huh, I don't think you ever got to see how my magic worked, did you?" Shaking his head, Artur blew out a wary breath before turning back to Undyne with a soft smile "You know that makes it a bit difficult to explain. So perhaps, it'd be easier if I just showed you."

"STOP!" Shooting to her feet, Alphys threw out her arms and put herself between Undyne and the mage just as he took a step closer. "You already have me. I won't struggle or anything, so just let everyone else go!"

"Really," Artur looked at the scientist with a look of genuine surprise on his face. "

You'd do that, just to protect her?"

"W-what are you doing?," Undyne asked shakily. " Alphys, these guys are gonna kill you!"

"So what!" Alphys sobbed, "I can't do it Undyne. I can't sit back and watch you get hurt because of me, I just can't!" At that, tears began to trickle from the corners of her eyes, and she sniffled once before turning to look back to the lead mage. "If I leave with you, you'll let them go, right?"

"But of course," at that, Artur nodded deeply as a pleased glint glimmered in his eyes. "If you cooperate and come with us, we won't lay a finger on your friends."

"Then I'll do it." Nodding, Alphys took a deep breath and quickly glanced back at Undyne, before whispering, "I'm sorry," and taking a slow but determined step forward.

"...Wait," squeezing her eyes tight, Undyne took a deep breath and leaned forward as she planted her feet beneath her. "I said stop already!" With a yell, the warrior rose from the ground on unsteady legs, before glaring at the young man with naked murder in her eyes.

"You can't do this," Undyne growled deeply and raised a hand toward Artur as a dull flickering appeared within in. "You can't take her from me, I won't allow it!"

"What you want doesn't matter anymore," sighing, the black-haired young man gestured to Alphys, who stood only a few steps away with a look of terror written on her face. "She has made her decision. You should just sit back and accept it."

"You can go to hell!" Undyne yelled back. "You talk about not wanting anyone to get hurt but we both know that's a lie. You chose this. I think you even enjoy it. That makes you more of a monster than any of us!"

"I do what I have to!" Artur shot back with a slight baring of his teeth. "Besides, thanks to that teleporting skeleton of yours, I don't have the luxury of playing nice with you people anymore."

Undyne blinked at that but didn't let the confusion show on her face. That last remark seemed hasty and poorly thought out, which probably meant it was true. But she didn't have a clue what he meant by a teleporting skeleton. The only skeletons she knew were Sans and Papyrus, and she didn't think either of them could manage something as complicated as a teleportation spell.

But before she could work through this, the mage let out a hiss and shook his head in disdain.

"This is pointless!" he locked his eyes on the warrior. "Look at you. A stiff breeze would probably knock you over, and somehow you think you could win a fight, against me? Do you even realize how utterly idiotic that is?!"

She hated to admit it, but the bastard was right. The second she got up, an invisible clock began ticking, and once that timer hit zero she'd probably be back on the ground, panting and useless. Between that and her injuries, winning a real fight would be all but impossible right now. But still, even knowing that she couldn't back down now.

"What can I say?" Smiling softly, Undyne raised the tip of her spear and aimed it at the man. "I really am an idiot!"

"Oh no," going pale, Alphys looked back and forth between the two before taking the first step to place herself between them. But, as swiftly as the woman moved, she was powerless to stop what would happen next.

With his eyes ablaze, the mage launched himself forward, his body a blur as he stretched a pale hand toward the warrior. On instinct Undyne swung her spear at the last moment, driving Artur back with a long leap until they once more stood far apart glaring at each other.

What the hell!? Undyne couldn't believe just how insanely fast this guy was, and why the heck was he relying on melee attacks of all things? The way Asgore talked, she always thought that mages were masters of attacking at a distance. Could this kid be different? Or, was something preventing him from sitting back and attacking at a range?

Either way, if this was all he had there was no way he could stop her from doing what she had in mind. So without wasting any more time, Undyne took a single step back and raised her spear in a defensive stance, as she took a deep breath to fill her lungs.

"Tilin!" Undyne shouted without taking her eye from her enemy. "Smokestorm and extract, now!"

"Yes!" with a mad grin, the feline held up her arms in a victorious V, as she did a little dance far behind the other monster. "Undyne, you have no idea how long I've been waiting to do this!" As the tiny little monster grinned to herself, black orbs appeared between her fingers and quickly to the size of marbles, before Tilin threw them high into the air.  
Not knowing what they were, the three mages starred in at the falling spheres thinking they had to be some sort of attack. But before any of them could guess their true nature, half of them blew apart in a flash, blinding the mages as they each clasped their eyes and shrunk back in pain.

"Alphys!" opening her eyes mid-run, Undyne dashed forward and took hold of the scientist's wrist as the remaining bombs hit the ground and burst into smoke, engulfing all three mages. "We're getting out of here, cmon!"  
"No." Even blinded, Artur coughed and turned to face Undyne, his ears zeroing in on the sound of her voice. "You're not going anywhere!" Emerging from the smoke, the mage locked his hand around the warrior's other arm and squeezed, the pressure eliciting a gasp of pain as her spear fell to the ground.

"Game over." With an evil grin, Artur brought up his free hand and quickly snapped his fingers.

Despite Undyne's training, the warrior wailed in agony as all at once her wrist snapped, her flesh split open, and dark ashy marks spread out along her skin, starting from where the human came in contact. It was almost as if every injury conceivable was pouring directly into her body and spreading from that single point of contact.

"I bet you really thought I couldn't do this," laughing, the mage snapped his fingers yet again, and bones snapped anew as gashes ran up the helpless monster's arm. Undyne tried, but she just couldn't keep herself from gasping for air as her arm bent in several places that it shouldn't.

Despite the buckling in her legs Undyne somehow managed to get herself on her feet. She and Alphys were so close to being out of this, so close to being safe, she couldn't go down, even if it hurt.

"The only reason I couldn't use this on you earlier is because monsters are weak," the mage sighed looked down at Undyne almost as if she was something to be pitied. "You see a monster soul is so faint that it makes targeting them from a distance difficult. It's like trying to tune in to a distant radio station with a broken antenna, it's almost impossible unless you're extremely lucky. But that doesn't matter when I'm making direct contact like this."

Grinding her teeth together, Undyne turned to glare at the black-haired mage with every ounce of hatred she could muster, but by then she couldn't even really focus on him anymore. He was just a blur that came in and out, just like the rest of the world. Yet despite that, something of the warrior's malice must have made it through.

"Huh, even after all this you still aren't giving up, are you?" shaking his head, the young man let out a long, weary sigh, almost as if he was dreading what would happen next. "It's such a pity it came to this really. I would've liked to have met you in other circumstances, but such is the world we live in."

"Go to hell."

"You know, I think I might!" Artur chuckled at that and squeezed harder on Undyne's shattered wrist. "But you're going first!" With that the mage lifted his hand, his grin growing a degree more devilish as he readied to snap his fingers.

But before he could, there was a fleshy thunk as a glowing knife buried itself in Artur's shoulder.

"GAH!" staggering backward, the mage released his grip on the warrior's wrist and fell into the cloud of smoke, disappearing entirely before Undyne realized what was happening. It didn't take long to figure it out though. Not only was that knife awfully familiar, but Tilin yelling at her a second later made it pretty obvious what just transpired.

"Hey lovebirds!" bellowing from the far end of the dining area, Tilin waved another knife in the air and urgently motioned at one of the nearby hills. "Get moving would ya, those jerks aren't gonna be down forever!"

Injured as she was, Undyne was all too eager to agree and nodded tiredly as she pulled Alphys in the cat's direction.

Not long later, the two figures climbed over the peak of a small nearby hill, with the cat-like figure of Tilin following closely behind. None of them were safe yet; in fact, they might not be safe even after they managed to leave the park. But for now, they were safer than at any other point since the attack had begun. And so, it was at this moment that Alphys chose to tell Undyne what had been on her mind, ever since this crazy escape had begun.

"You could've been killed, you know."

At least at first Undyne chose not to answer. She was too busy concentrating on her footwork. With every step, her feet seemed to grow heavier and heavier. She knew that was not a good sign, but the bus stop wasn't far from here. If they could reach it before her body gave out...

"Hey, listen to me!" Alphys spoke up again, clearly irritated. "I didn't want you to save me, not if it meant you getting hurt like this!"  
"I don't care!" Undyne slowed only slightly as she took a steadying breath, and then another. "This is my job, I'm supposed to save people, I'm supposed to get hurt. I couldn't just sit back and do nothing!"

"That isn't the point!" With a sudden stop, Alphys pulled free from the hero's grasp, and Undyne turned to see tears streaming down her face.

"I'm sorry," she said with a sniffle. "I know you were just trying to help, but I'm just not worth it. Why should anyone ever get hurt because of me? Why should you!?"

"Because I'm selfish," Undyne answered slowly, her breaths coming more and more heavily with every passing second. "I couldn't lose you Alphys, I can't lose anyone. I'm just not strong enough." Slowly the warrior began to stagger and she shut her eyes as she brought up a hand to wipe her forehead.

"U-Undyne?" with a tilt of her head the scientist looked up at her girlfriend. She'd never seen her in such rough shape before, and it seemed as though she was getting worse by the second. For her part, the warrior didn't understand it either. Sure, she had gotten pretty banged up during the escape, but she'd been hurt before and hadn't felt this bad. Right now, it almost felt like her body was tearing itself apart.

"Oh," Alphys voice quietly trembled, as she slowly reached up and gently wiped at the warrior's forehead. "Oh god no…"

Looking down, the two monsters stared at the goopy blue smudge staining Alphys' fingers.

"Eww, what the heck!" Tilin paled and stuck out her tongue as a blue glop dripped to the earth.

"No, no-no-no," Alphys repeated the words over and over as she shook her head in a panic. "That's impossible, how could DT have even gotten into her!?"

"Alphys!" Undyne grabbed the scientist by the shoulder. "Look, it's fine, just tell me what's going on." The moment she asked, a single blue droplet fell from the warrior's forehead and traced a line down the scientist's forearm.

"I don't know how it happened," Alphys continued quietly, before squeezing her eyes shut and taking a deep breath. "Alright, C'mon!"

Opening her eyes once more, the scientist took Undyne's uninjured hand and practically began dragging her. "Lean on me if you have to, but we need to get you back to my lab immediately!"

"Huh?" Undyne blinked and practically tripped as she struggled to catch up with the saurians pace. "Hold on a second, just tell me what's happening already!?"

"The same thing that happened to the amalgamates," Alphys said without pause or slowing her pace. "But don't worry, I'm sure I can stop it. This time, it's my turn to save you." 

* * *

"Stupid," Artur seethed and stomped his foot as the last of the smoke cleared. "I can't believe I was so damn stupid!" Taking a deep breath, the mage turned and glared at the younger of the two apprentices.

"Can you teleport us to where they went?"

"No," staring at the earth, Helis slowly shook her head and answered. "My magic doesn't work that way. I teleport to locations, not to people."

"Useless!" Artur growled and pulled his hair back in frustration. "We can't let them escape. Not anymore, this could be our last chance!" At that, the older mage furrowed his brows as an idea seemed to occur to him.

"Oh Nigel," Artur began with a chuckle. "I think it's about time you summoned your Elemental."

"Whoa, hey!" the boy mage held up his palms in a slow down gesture. "Pardon me for asking, but are you out of your flipping gourd!?"

"No, I assure you I'm not," Artur shrugged, all but dismissing the younger mages objection with a single motion. "Your Elemental can track targets by the scent of their magic. That's what you told me right? Well, guess what." The older mage pointed at a darkened spot on the grass where the warrior had lain.

"The great hero left here, wounded!" He let that hang triumphantly for just a second before turning back to Nigel. "Her body must be leaking a ton of magic right now. So following her shouldn't be a problem at all."

"Yeah, except I can hardly control the crazy thing!" The younger mage let out a huff and threw open his arms. "This isn't a lesser spirit like an imp. Elementals have a will all of their own. If I set that thing loose without being there to control it, who knows how much of this city will burn!"

"That's not a problem," Artur said slyly. "Not, if you control it directly." At that Nigel opened his mouth to respond only to shut it again as the suggestion fully sunk in.

"Do you have any idea how risky that is?" Nigel asked with a narrowing of his eyes. "If I enter that thing, and something goes wrong…"

"You're actually afraid of Summoner's Corruption?!" the older mage shook his head with a roll of his eyes. "You know that's practically a myth, don't you?"

"Yeah, well why take the chance!"

"Because." Artur leaned in behind the other boy and began to whisper. "While you're here being a scaredy cat, the woman that beat you, that embarrassed you, is quickly getting away!"

Freezing in place, Nigel took in a sharp breath as an angry memory flashed in his eyes.

"She had you," Artur continued. "Your defenses were down, your attacks insufficient. If I had not sent Helis in to bail you out, you would've been the one on the ground, not her. And after all that, you're honestly telling me you want to let her go?!"

For a long moment, nobody said a word as the question hung heavy in the air.

"Alright," letting out an angry breath, Nigel turned to the older mage and looked up at him with a sharp shark-like grin "The funny thing is, I know you're messing with me, but you're right. That woman's gotta pay!"

"I couldn't agree more!"

With that, Nigel rubbed his hands together and stretched before lowering himself to the ground.

"Just look after my body," Nigel demanded, "The last thing I want is for something to happen to it while I'm gone!"

"Of course."

Settling into a cross-legged stance, the blond-haired boy closed his eyes and took several deep rhythmic breaths as he slowly gathered up all of his power. From where Helis stood, she could feel Nigel's magic building up like a fire, starting with the smallest of sparks and growing outward until it practically hurt to be near him.

It was only then, when the grass turned black and the summoner couldn't stoke his flames any higher, that he opened his mouth and began to chant as he spread his hands wide.

"Oh great deep shadow of earth, I offer you now this fiery birth!"  
With every word, the sky grew darker in a perfect hundred meter dome around him.

"The contract given, the service required, the payment a mortal form that I've sired."

With that Helis felt Nigel's magic being drawn downward as if being pulled away and devoured by something powerful and ancient.

"I ask you now, for this land to burn, so mine enemies will get what they've earned."

Throwing out her hands, Helis caught herself as the ground shifted beneath her.

"I bid you please, come now awake, and in return, the world shall shake!"

Shadows fell across everything as the warmth drawn from the air itself. Wrapping her arms around her torso, Helis' teeth began to clatter as the world itself was plunged into darkness.

"Arise, Kalkirrinth!"

And then it got really, really, hot!


	28. Chapter 28

Undertale: Long Road

By: Nathan Weaver

Chapter: 28 

* * *

"Wait-wait-wait." Shaking his head, Monster Kid pressed his lips together and desperately tried to suppress the grin growing on his face. And to his credit, he was trying. He was trying so hard in fact, that Frisk could practically see the laughter bubbling up within him. But, try as he might, he couldn't hold it back forever.

"You sank a boat!?" MK asked with a snort, his voice rising several degrees. "A whole boat?"

Giggling madly, the child doubled over and began stomping his feet, turning heads the entire camp over. "How in the world do you sink an entire boat!?"

"I didn't sink it!" Frisk protested as she buried her face in her palms. "I only tipped it a little. It isn't my fault it kept on going. And keep it down a little, not everybody has to know about this!"

"Sorry," inhaling deeply, MK let out a breath and slowly got his laughter under control, even if there was still a big old grin on his face. "So, is that why you and Asgore came back all wet?"

"Yeah," sighing, Frisk glanced across the camp at the old king, who was busy starting a fire as he sat there air drying. He wasn't too bad right at the moment, but she still couldn't look at him without remembering how cold and damp he looked until recently and that made her feel more than a little guilty. "I kinda screwed things up this time, didn't I?"

"Oh, oh jeez." Chewing on his lower lip, MK drooped and looked over at Frisk with a look of regret. "Hey, I'm sorry about that dude. I wouldn't have laughed if I'd known you felt so bad!"

"It's fine!" Smiling, Frisk laughed and pulled her towel a bit tighter around her as a gust of wind picked up again and sent a shiver down her spine. "I mean we're friends, we should be able to poke fun at each other, at least a little!"

"Well, still," shrugging his head, the little monster looked up into the sky and trailed off before picking up again a few moments later. "So where's the flower anyway? I haven't seen him for awhile?"

"Still in the car actually," Frisk sighed and shook her head. "He wanted time alone to think."

"About what?"

"You know, things." Shrugging, Frisk thought back to the time she spent with Flowey in the car and felt herself starting to worry again. After getting back to the shore Asgore set them up with the heater in the car and went back out with another fisherman to get the boat. It was then, as they sat there waiting, that she noticed just how quiet he was being.

At first, Frisk didn't think too much of it. They were cold, tired, and it made sense that neither of them would be all that talkative for awhile. But when the silence began stretching on even after they started warming up, that was when she began to worry and asked if there was something bothering him.

"I'm just trying to make my mind up about something," Flowey said a moment later after Frisk finally managed to get him to pay attention. "Could you just give me a little time to think?" As it turned out a 'little time' was actually quite a while because even after getting back to camp he still didn't want to leave the car.

"You know, I should go check on him," Frisk said as she stood from her spot. "The fire should be ready soon, he won't want to miss that."

"Want me to come with?"

"Thanks, but that's probably not a good idea." Frisk shook her head before forcing a smile for her friend. "I might want to talk, and he's been kinda quiet around other people lately."

"I see." MK's eyes sank to the ground and stayed there for a moment, before looking back up to Frisk almost reluctantly. "Yo, I know I shouldn't be asking, but what's wrong with him anyway?"

*Wow. You are just the King of tact.

"You know, it's kind of hard to explain," Letting out a breath, Frisk shifted her weight from foot to foot uncomfortably before finally deciding what to say next. "Why do you want to know anyway?"

"Well, because it's weird!" Shaking his head, the young boy grunted and kicked at the dirt before looking back to Frisk shame-faced. "I'm sorry, it's just before I thought he was just an evil jerk or something. I couldn't understand why you were always trying to help him!"

"And now?"

"Oh, he's still a jerk!" MK said matter of factly. "But, even more then that, he seems really sad to me now. I dunno, it's almost like he's lost or something!"

"You know, that's actually a pretty good way of putting it!" This time when Frisk smiled, it actually seemed genuine. Even so, that didn't keep her from looking away before continuing. "I'm afraid I can't tell you all that much though, it's kinda private."

"I guess I get that," MK said with a shrug. "What can you tell me?"

"Something happened to him," she began slowly. "Something really bad." Not sure what else to say, Frisk, stood leaning from foot to foot and looked about uncertainly before taking a breath to continue. "He lost something then, lost everything really. Then he woke up, and everything was different. Even he was different. I think for the longest time he was just lost after that."

"And, you think he's finding his way home now?"

"Something like that." Smiling, Frisk nodded and slowly looked up at her friend. "He's made a lot of progress lately. So I think he's getting pretty close."

"That's good," MK said, nodding in return without being able to meet her eyes.

"Yeah, it is." Still smiling, Frisk looked her friend up and down and slowly took in his behavior. It seemed to her like MK was not sure how to feel about Flowey or the news that he was getting better. So after thinking about it for a few more seconds, she made up her mind and asked him about it. "Are you still mad at him about your birthday?"

"Yeah, I guess I am," MK sighed at the admission. "Look, I know he said sorry but he still said some pretty mean things to me. It might take me awhile before I'm over it. I'm trying though!"

"Oh, well that's fine!" Letting out a breath, Frisk straightened and felt the tension drain from her shoulders. "I mean, I want you two be friends and all but he did some pretty bad stuff. I get why it might take you awhile to forgive him for that."

"And, you're not upset about it?"

"Of course not!" Frisk said brightly. "You're trying, a lot of people wouldn't."

"Hey, that's right!" Smiling at that, the boy held his chin high in the air and flashed his teeth, almost as if there was a camera on him. "I keep forgetting, but I am pretty great aren't I!"

*Oh god.

"Oh jeez," Frisk said as she began to giggle. "You've been hanging out with Papyrus too much!"

"Nyeh-haha, more like not enough!"

"You know, you might be right about that!" Smiling broadly Frisk went back to giggling, even as several people throughout the camp stopped to stare.

*No seriously. What does everybody see in that cake destroying weirdo!? 

* * *

"Knock-knock!" Announcing herself cheerfully, Frisk knocked twice on the car door, pausing only briefly before opening it. "Hey Flowey," she said with a smile. "The fire should be going soon. Do you want to come out and enjoy it?"

"Oh gee, I don't know!" Flowey began sarcastically. "I'm not sure I can handle that. Maybe, you should hold on tight and shelter me even more!"

"Hey, you're the one that wanted alone time!" Raising her eyebrows Frisk grinned and hopped into the car, taking the seat next to her friend. "C'mon, what's going on with you? It worries me when you want to be by yourself like this."

"Yeah I know," Flowey said as he let out a breath and looked downward. "I'm sorry about that. I'm not trying to make you worry or anything. I just, well, I really needed some time to think."

"Oh, I see." Following a hunch, Frisk reached out and closed the door, giving them both a bit of privacy. "Alright," she said as she turned back to him. "Nobody is going to hear us now. So why don't you tell me what's bugging you?"

"Nothings bugging me!" Flowey said with a grumble. "I just, I'm trying to make a decision is all."

"Alright," Frisk said slowly. "Well, is it anything I can help with then?"

"I don't know," Flowey said uneasily. "Do you think maybe, I could ask you for a favor?"

"Uh, sure thing," she said as she furrowed her brow in confusion. "Whatever it is you can count on me." In truth, Frisk was a little uneasy making an open-ended promise like this. But, she was sorta curious what kind of favor could make Flowey act like this. Besides that, it wasn't like she didn't want to help or anything.

"Alright," Letting out a breath, Flowey sat looking around for a moment before setting his jaw and sitting up straight. "You know what, I might as well say it. I'm going to tell Asgore!"

"Wait, what!?" Frisk said as she went bolt upright. "Really!? You're really going to tell him!?"

"Yes, really!" Flowey said as he backed up as far as he could. "Sheesh, is it that shocking?"

"It kinda is!" Frisk said with a slow shake of her head. "I thought you were too scared to tell him."

"Yeah, well so did I." Speaking softly, Flowey cast his eyes downward and let out a long breath. "To tell you the truth I really am scared, terrified even." Lifting his head, the flower looked at the sunlight through the window opposite where Frisk sat. "No matter what he says, he might hate me after learning what I did. I mean, he used to think so much of me. I'd hate to disappoint him."

"I see," Frisk said, as the excitement fled from her. "So, why have you decided to tell him then?"

"Well, because," Flowey said with a little side tilt of his head. "I can't keep hiding forever."

"I guess that's true."

"Yeah and besides," taking a slow deliberate breath, Flowey turned to Frisk and gave her an uncertain little smile. "I don't think he was lying before. I think Asgore might actually get it."

"Why's that?"

"Well, it's not like he's perfect or anything," Flowey began a bit uncomfortably. "He's made his own share of mistakes. So if anyone's going to be understanding about this, I think it's him."

"Yeah, that's true," Frisk said, holding up a finger to acknowledge the point. "So, do you want me to go set this up for you, or something?"

"Oh heck no!" Flowey shook his head as his eyes went big. "No way am I telling him right now!"

"Huh," Frisk said with a blink. "Why not!?"

"Well because." Flowey shifted about and briefly trailed off. "If I tell dad, I've gotta tell mom too."

"Oh!" Raising her eyebrows, Frisk brought up a hand to hide the ever growing smile forming on her face. It really did make her feel good to see Flowey being all considerate like this. "So," she began a moment later, "You're going to tell them at once then?"

"Yeah," Flowey nodded. "I'll do it when we get home. It'll be easier that way."

"You're probably right," Frisk said as she nodded back. He really was too. This way he wouldn't give the impression that he favored one parent over the other. Granted, Toriel probably wouldn't take it personally or anything. But, why risk it when the situation could be avoided entirely?

"Well, I'm impressed," Frisk began with a slap of the car seat. "You've really thought of everything. I don't think I could've planned this better myself."

"Thanks."

"I'm, kinda wondering though. What's the favor you were talking about?"

"Oh, that." Looking away, the small plant began fidgeting as he pressed his lips together. "Well," I know it's a lot to ask. But, would you mind being up there with me, when I tell mom and dad?"

"I see," letting out a breath, Frisk leaned back and pondered the request. It wasn't surprising really. Even she was a bit nervous about this so it was only natural that it'd be worse for him. With that in mind though, her answer really was obvious.

"Yeah, of course I will," Smiling, Frisk picked her friend up by his pot and sat him in her lap. "We're in this together. I am not letting my baby brother down when he needs me the most!"

"Baby!?" Narrowing his eyes, Flowey looked up at her and folded his little leaf arms as he sat there, scandalized. "C'mon Frisk, we're practically the same age!"

"Yeah, I know," she said with a little grin. "But I'm still older than you. You said so on the boat."

"Well, I didn't think you'd lord it over me!" Scrunching up his face, Flowey stuck his tongue out at her and made a show of looking away. "Some sister you are!"

"You know I'm kidding, right?" Leaning over, Frisk pulled him a bit closer and held the flower tight in her arms. "Okay, I won't make fun of you over this anymore. Does that sound good?"

"Yeah." Nodding slowly, Flowey leaned into one of Frisk's arms and firmly held onto it as he rested his weight against her. "And, thank you again for all of this. I really don't deserve it."

"Sure you do," Speaking softly, Frisk pulled her friend even closer. "Flowey, even if nobody else knows it yet, we're family now. We are supposed to be there for each other, no matter what."

"Thanks Frisk," Flowey said as his voice caught. "You really are the best friend I could ask for."

*...

*You know what. I am not going to let that bother me. Nope. Not at all. I can be a big person too.

*...

*See.

*...

*GRAAAAH! 

* * *

"Whew, well I'm glad that's done!" Standing up, the old king stretched out the stiffness from his limbs and smiled as he watched the crackling flames igniting the kindling. It had certainly taken a lot longer to build the campfire than he'd expected, what with the strong winds and everything. But, now that it was burning well, he was pretty sure it'd stay that way.

It was a good thing too. Because just as Asgore finished stretching out, Frisk came rounding the corner and walked back into camp with her little flower friend in tow.

"Hey, good timing," still smiling, the old king held out his hands over the growing flame, enjoying the warmth as it heated his still slightly damp fur. "We just got it going actually."

"Just now?" Flowey asked, furrowing his brows as he looked back and forth between Asgore and the campfire. "What took so long? Couldn't you just magic one up?"

"Oh, I did," the old king let out an amused little snort and held out his hands in an open-palmed show of surrender. "But real fires can be pretty serious business. So I only used a small flame to get things going. I didn't want to accidentally set anything else on fire after all."

"Why not?" Flowey pressed, seeming genuinely curious. "I mean, I know it's bad, but if something else caught fire, couldn't you just put it out with magic too?"

"Huh, you know you're right actually," Asgore answered slowly, surprised that somebody here actually knew that. Most Monsters knew about fire magic, but there were not many that could use it. So the fact that it could be used to put out fire, wasn't really common knowledge.

"Still," Asgore said as he shook the thought from his head a moment later. "It's better to be safe than sorry. Fire is an extremely dangerous tool. If you aren't careful with it, people can get hurt."

"Yeah, I guess that's true," Flowey said with a slow thoughtful nod, almost as if he was taking the old monsters words to heart. "Do you think you could show me how to do it sometime?"

"Golly!" he said as his grin spread from ear to ear. "I'd love to!" Try as he might, the old king couldn't wipe the smile off his face at that moment. True, he wasn't a teacher and chances were this child wouldn't be able to use fire magic anyway. But, it still felt good to see the little guy opening up to him, even if he didn't know why he was doing it all of a sudden.

"Well look at you!" Frisk said as she smiled down at the flower in her arms.

"Don't start!" Flowey said with a huff. "He's going to know soon anyway, so I might as well!"

"Know what?"

"N-nothing!" Both kids went stiff as a board as they spoke up in unison.

"Uh, I see," Asgore chuckled as he held out his hands. "So this is top secret then?"

"Kinda," Frisk began a bit hesitantly. "I think you'll hear about it pretty soon though."

"Alright, that's fair," the old king shrugged at that and decided then and there to let the odd little slip-up go. After all, he had a few secrets of his own when he was their age. It wasn't like there was any harm in it. So the best thing he could do was to change the subject and put the entire thing to rest. With that in mind, Asgore scratched his beard for a few seconds and bent to grab an unlit stick from the fire.

"So." Clearing his throat, Asgore took a few steps and held out the stick where Flowey could easily take it. "What do you say? Wanna get started on that magic lesson while we're here?"

"What, right now!?"

"Why not now?" Shrugging, Asgore looked down at the little wide-eyed plant and found himself chuckling under his breath. "It's a nice day for it, and it's not like we have anything better to do."

"Okay," Flowey said a bit uneasily as he took the stick. "What do you want me to do?"

"First, look at the stick." The old king nodded as he watched the flower follow his instructions. "Then, try to picture a shape in your head."

"Can it be any shape?" Frisk asked curiously.

"Well, sure," Asgore said with a smile. "With Monsters, the first shape that pops into their head is usually the symbol of their innate magic. I don't know if it's the same way for humans though."

"Oh wow!" Frisk said as her eyes began glimmering. "This really is natural for you guys, huh."

"Yeah, I guess it is," Despite himself, the old king couldn't help chuckling as he reached back to scratch at his neck. This wasn't the time for this of course, but Frisk was just such an energetic and curious child, it was hard not to get caught up in her enthusiasm.

Flowey must not have appreciated it though. Because just as it looked like she was about to ask another question the small plant turned to her and cleared his throat.

"Uh, Frisk," Flowey said, as he glared at her in a perfectly deadpan expression. "Do you think you could maybe let me have this?"

"Oh sorry!" Frisk said with a blush. "I got carried away again, didn't I?"

"It's fine." Letting out a breath, Flowey closed his eyes for a second then looked back to Asgore. "So what's next anyway?"

"Wait already?" Asgore blinked as he looked at the plant in surprise. "Wow, you know it usually takes a lot longer for people to memorize their first shape. You must have a real knack for this!"

"Right," Flowey said uncomfortably as he turned to look away from the old kings gaze. "Actually, I already have a little experience. I just never got to the really complicated stuff."

"Oh, so that's it!" Smiling, the king let out a breath and slowly shook his head. "Well, that certainly explains it then. But don't worry, we'll get you all caught up in no time!"

"Thanks!"

"Don't mention it!" Still smiling, the king bent to poke the end of the stick. "Now, do you think you can focus on the end, without losing track of that image in your head?"

"Sure I can," Flowey said confidently. "That's easy!"

"Well okay!" Asgore chuckled and backed up a step to make room. "Now, slowly begin pouring magic into the symbol while focusing on the stick. We should see something happen if it works."

"Alright." Taking one last deep breath, Flowey turned and stared nervously at the branch, before straightening his back as if making up his mind. "Well, here goes nothing!"

When asked it later, Asgore would tell people that he had no idea about what was coming next. Sure, he expected there to be some magic at play, it seemed like Flowey had some sort of experience after all. But despite what he said earlier, he didn't really expect him to be able to use fire magic. It was just such a rare type that it didn't seem all that likely.

Despite his teacher's doubts, Flowey went ahead and started calling upon the power of his soul, pouring it into the branch as he furrowed his brows in intense concentration.

For the kids watching as they sat littered around the camp, the big surprise was that anything happened at all. They all knew Flowey wasn't a real Monster, it was no big secret or anything. And, while they didn't hold that against him, most of them took that information and concluded that the little guy probably couldn't use magic. After all, magic was a Monster thing, wasn't it?

That was probably why the kids started to murmur as the branch began smoldering. Granted it didn't look like much, just a thin trail of smoke. But then it was followed by a loud crackling hiss as it burst into light, flaming like an oversized matchstick.

"Whoa!" Frisk began, her rising voice matching the excitement of the gawking crowd. "That's way bigger than the fire you made at the birthday party!"

Still murmuring, the kids scattered around the camp scooted a bit closer and craned their necks to get a better look at the flame. In fact, out of everyone there, not a soul was looking at anything else, except for Asgore. The old king instead stood staring at Flowey with his mouth half agape. But it wasn't because he was impressed. No, it was because that in that brief moment the child used his magic, Asgore sensed something. Something that shouldn't be possible.

Standing there, Asgore slowly became aware of his trembling hands and balled them into fists in order to stop them. It was then that he began to breathe again and felt the cool mountain air filling his lungs. The sensation calmed him a little, but only enough for his brain to start working again.

This couldn't be what it looked like, could it? The thought went through the king's mind almost in a loop, before he remembered what Toriel had asked him to do before he left.

"I need you to watch him," Toriel's memory whispered, almost as if she was there next to him. "What I see!? What I see is impossible!"

Was this what she meant? Slowly, Asgore's eyes went even wider as the pieces of the puzzle began falling into place. There was that phone call where Toriel asked about aura, that strange conversation in the boat with Flowey. Even Frisk's comment about a huge secret just a minute ago seemed to point to one thing. But, even knowing all that, something like this couldn't happen!

Flowey's aura felt just like Asriel's. Not just similar, identical in every way. For an instant, it was almost like his son was there beside him again, channeling the warmth of his soul in the same way he'd taught him oh so long ago. But as beautiful as that thought was, there was one fact that kept him from accepting it.

The dead, don't come back. He was an old fool for even considering it.

What was this then? Why did Flowey's aura feel like Asriel's? Who was he? The moment he thought it, the question was already on the tip of his tongue and making its way past his lips. However, before he could even get more than the first few syllables out, Flowey gasped and jerked violently, doubling over in his pot as he let out a high echoing wail.

"Flowey!?" Panicked, Frisk stumbled back as the branch fell to the ground in a tumble of sparks.

Acting on instinct, Asgore threw out his hand along with his magic, smothering the branch and extinguishing its flames in an instant. It was only then that he rushed to Flowey and knelt next to him, his fingers tracing his stem as he searched for burns.

"Hold on, talk to me for a bit!" Asgore ordered firmly. "I need you to tell me where it hurts!"

"Everywhere!" Flowey gasped between clenched teeth, "It's, like I'm, being torn apart!"

It was only as he said that and started looking up at him, that Asgore noticed a sharp electric sound, like faint television static. But, before he had time to ask about it, Flowey jerked to the side and began wailing again. That was when the old king saw the lights.

At first, it was hardly noticeable, just a few glowing squares popping in and out of existence like Christmas lights. Most weren't even touching Flowey. But, as Asgore watched, more and more of them showed up until the child was all but blanketed in a chaotic quilt of pulsing, pixelated lights. And all the while, as the distortions spread and the plant convulsed, that staticky sound just kept getting louder and more violent.

"What is this!?" Asgore asked wide-eyed, unable to keep the panic from his voice.

"I-I don't know!" Frisk answered. "I've never seen this before, it's…" But before she could finish, the static reached its zenith and what looked like an electric discharge shot from the flower and arced into her shoulder, causing her to shriek as she dropped the pot to the earth with a crack.

Asgore's wide eyes narrowed into a focused beam. His entire world shrunk onto the two children. Looking between them for but half a second, Asgore half hopped half leaped forward and grabbed Frisk by her unhurt shoulder. "Talk to me, please tell me you're alright!?"

"I'm fine!" Frisk said with a wince as her eyes came back into focus. "What about him?"

"I don't know," even as he spoke, Asgore reached down and carefully picked Flowey up from the shattered remains of his pot. For but a moment, the old king worried that maybe he was too late. Maybe whatever this was had finished the child, and all that was left for him was to bury another body. And, maybe that was why he felt so much relief when he heard him start breathing again.

"He isn't dead," Asgore said as he finally took a breath of his own. "But I don't think he's out of the woods" As he watched the old man took note of the child's pale petals, closed eyes, and uneven shallow breaths. Whatever happened, it had hurt Flowey horribly, and it wasn't over.

Those small pixelated lights weren't gone. They were difficult to notice at first, but the more he stared down at the tiny child pressed against his chest, the more he noticed those strange lights shimmering in and out of existence.

"Yo, what!?"

Looking up, Asgore finally noticed the crowd building around them. It seemed like practically every kid, and even some of the counselors, had come to see what was going on, and nearly every one of them looked terrified.

"Hey uh, King Asgore sir?" MK asked, a bit more reluctantly than usual as he stepped away from the crowd and looked down at the flower. "Um, is he going to be okay?"

"I'm not sure," Asgore said, sounding far weaker than he would've liked. "I don't think it was the fall that hurt him. But, until I know what's going on, I'm not sure there's any way I can help him."

"I'm sorry, but I don't think you can!" With a shake of her head, Frisk slowly stood up and looked at Asgore with steely determination. "I think, there's only one person that can help Flowey now. No matter what we need to get him back to Alphys, right this instant!"

*You better hurry then. The good doctor has her own problems right now.


	29. Chapter 29

Undertale: Long Road  
By: Nathan Weaver  
Chapter: 29

* * *

"...And thaaaaaat's what happened!"

*Dangit. I hate arriving in the middle of a conversation.

"Wowie!" said Papyrus, narrowing his eyes at Sans without taking his hands from the steering wheel. "My brother did all that, did he?"

"Suuuure did." Nodding in the backseat, Blair, the bear Monster Sans rescued the day before, continued with his explanation, oblivious of how it made the shorter skeleton squirm. "It was super impressive actually. I didn't think your brother could fight like that."

"He does have his moments! But I'm curious about something," Papyrus said as he leaned in on his brother, with narrowed eyes. "When did you become Batman? Why, I don't see any wings or anything!"

"Eh, it's a living," Sans said as he put his hands up in a sort of half shrug half sign of surrender. "We've all gotta pay our bills, and I'd much rather do this than retail. It's less scary, ya know?"

"Sans, you know this isn't funny." Sighing, the tall skeleton glanced up and hit the gas pedal, accelerating with the downtown traffic as the light turned green. "What were you even doing there? You could've been hurt!"

"Yeah I know," Sans said quietly, almost as if he was ashamed. "I was careful though, honest!"

"I'm sure you were," Papyrus said as he narrowed his eyes again. "Just like you were careful not to answer my question just now!"

*Oh-ho. boney boy's sharp today.

"Alright look." Leaning back in his seat, Sans took a deep breath and spent a moment to decide what all he was going to tell his brother. It'd be easy to dance around the issue and keep some of his secrets. But he did not want to actually lie to his brother. So instead, he decided to tell the truth this time, or at least part of it anyway.

"You see," he continued slowly, taking on a nearly bashful tone. "I was out testing something, a new magic detector I've been working on. I really didn't think I'd be fighting somebody, but hey, at least now I know it works!"

"That's not funny!" Papyrus snapped, and turned to glare at his brother, only to drop it a moment later. After that, nobody said anything for the longest times. Cars continued down the road, their engines humming as pedestrians walked up and down the sidewalk. All the while, nobody there dared to say a word.

Papyrus was actually angry. Sans couldn't even remember the last time his brother was upset. And, if he was being honest, the only reason he was this time, was because he did something reckless and lied about. Really, one way or another, it always seemed like he made his brother worry about him.

"Look," said Sans as he drew an uneasy breath. "I'm sorry about that. Making you worry and everything. I didn't mean for any of this. It just sorta happened."

"Yeah I know." Looking embarrassed, Papyrus glanced around until his gaze settled on the passenger in the backseat. "I see how it could happen too. Why we certainly don't want our friend here getting hurt. Such an outcome would be, quite grizzly."

"What?" Blinking in confusion, the bear-like Monster furrowed his brows and slowly shook his head. "That's supposed to be a joke, right?" Sitting there, Blair looked back and forth between the brothers as if waiting for an answer, but eventually he just shrugged instead. "I don't get it."

"Anyway!" Papyrus loudly said before clearing his throat. "Sans I want you to promise me something. I want you to promise me that you won't get hurt when you do this next time."

"Sure thing," Sans said with a shrug. "I wasn't planning on turning this into a regular thing."

"Sans, I know you!" Turning, the taller skeleton gave his older brother a skeptical deadpan look. "You're a creature of habit. You eat the same meals, shop at the same stores. You even tell the same jokes, again, again and again, over and over…"

"Okay, I get the picture!" Sans said, interrupting his brother as he held up his hands in surrender. "I like my routines. What does that have to do with anything?"

"It means that if you do something once you'll probably do it again," Papyrus said as a matter of fact, all while waving a finger in the air. "Except for picking up socks. I never was able to drill that one into you!"

"So you want me to promise to make sure," Sans said with a slow seriousness, as he reached up to scratch at the back of his skull. "Paps, bro, you know how I feel about making promises!"

Suffice it to say, the stubby little fella wasn't a fan of them. Not because he didn't take them seriously. Rather, it was because there was a certain sort of cruelty inherent in a promise. It didn't matter how well intended they were. Just like rules, promises were made to be broken. People couldn't help it. And when they did fall apart, nothing remained save for the pain and heartache people still had to deal with.

As far as Sans was concerned real promises weren't something he ever wanted to be apart of. But, if he really had to be, he'd move heaven and earth to keep them, just as long as possible.

"I know, you don't like making promises," Papyrus stated in a rare sober moment, without taking his eyes off the road. "But I know how serious you take them, and I need to know you'll be okay. I can't take the idea of sitting around and fretting about you each and every night."

"Alright," Sans said a moment later, practically whispering beneath his breath. "You win Pap's. I promise. No matter what trouble I get into, I'll always make it home safe and sound."

"That's all I wanted to hear." Smiling, the tall skeletons shoulders visibly loosened up, which only showed how stressed out he was about all this. Sans may not have liked making promises, but he was happy he could put his brothers mind at ease, even if it was only for a while.

"Well that sure was, something," Blair said as the car came to a stop at a red light. "Hey, how about we put on some music? You know, to lighten things up a bit."

"Why, that sounds like a stupendous idea!" Pointing into the air, Papyrus twirled his hand once and hit the radio dial with a click. "Do you want Rock, Jazz, or Electric Pastafarian Polka?"

"...and now for an update on the ongoing terrorist attack at EagleCon."

"Funny," Papyrus said with a raised eyebrow, "That doesn't _sound_ like polka!"

"Wait-wait, hold the phone!" Sans said as he held out a hand to stop Papyrus from changing the station. "Isn't that the thing Undyne and Alphys were going to!?"

"Great googly moogly, you're right!"

With everyone now on high alert, the brothers crowded in on the radio, all too eager to catch every word. That was how they learned of the events going on at the park, though the report given by the announcer didn't actually say anything about their friends. However, the stories about children or teenagers attacking people with strange fire-based weaponry, gave Sans a pretty good idea what happened.

If that wasn't alarming enough, apparently there was a large shadowy sphere in the center of the park now that nobody could identify. Though it sounded like the helicopter footage of it was pretty stunning.

"Well, craaaaaap." Taking a deep breath, Sans squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose-hole. He didn't know what that shadow was, but, those three kids sounded familiar enough. "Does that sound like your attackers to you, Blair?"

"Yeah, it sure does." the bear Monster answered as he shrank back and hid behind the seat.

Frankly, Sans couldn't really blame the guy. Between the three of them, those kids were crazy powerful. But, he couldn't wrap his head around what they could still be doing here. No matter how powerful they were, they couldn't stand up to a city full of cops. The moment he got away with a witness, that should have been the end of it. So, what were they hoping to accomplish?

"Wait, the mages that attacked Blair?" Papyrus asked, his voice steadily growing higher. "Are you telling me they're after Undyne now!?"

"Uh, maybe?" Sans said with an uncertain shake of his head. "We just don't know yet!"

It was a good thing Sans had his seatbelt on. Because the moment he gave his answer Papyrus slammed on the gas pedal, sending the car forth with a squeal of rubber as the light went green.

"Holy!" Wide-eyed, the bear in the back seat tossed out his arms as he was smooshed into the cushions. All of them, bear and skeleton alike, could actually feel the wheels leaving the ground as they accelerated into the turn.

"Paps!" Sans croaked in terror. "This isn't safe bro. What are you doing!?"

"What I have to!" Papyrus declared loudly, his voice punching through the rushing air. "There's no way I'm sitting back when my friends are in trouble. It would be, most Un-Papyrus like!"

*Well. He has you there.

Sans actually couldn't argue that one. Oh, he wanted to. Just like he wanted to point out to his brother that he was being just as reckless as he was, maybe even more so. But he had a rather tough time saying it. Mostly, because he was too busy watching his life flash before his eyes as Papyrus weaved in and out of traffic!

As he was sitting there though, he slowly became aware that the radio was still playing. In fact, somehow he could hear it even over the sound of squealing tires and horns honking all around him. But as he listened in, he quickly noticed that the woman reporting did not sound anywhere close to being calm.

"Something's happening," came the voice on the radio. ""That dark sphere, whatever it was, it's starting to dissipate now."

As the reporter went on though, the station started to become staticky. It wasn't much at first, just a distraction really. But as things went on it kept getting worse until Sans literally couldn't hear a thing, save for the pop and hiss of white noise. When it did clear up a moment later, the reporter on the other end was clearly shaken by something.

"What's that!?," said the reporter. "Something, something's coming out of it!"

Even through all of that noise, there wasn't any mistaking the horror in her voice. That and that alone would've been enough to make him go cold. Terrible as that was though, it wasn't over.

" _Oh my god!_ " screamed the reporter in a panic. "Get out of here, get us away fro..."

With that, there was a deep noise and the broadcast cut out, leaving only silence in its wake.

* * *

"Undyne?"

"UNDYNE!"

"Huhwha!?" Jerking awake, the wounded fish woman found herself sprawled out on her back, as she stared up an unfamiliar white ceiling. Not knowing where she was, Undyne looked around and began sitting up, only to be pressed down by a familiar set of hands.

"H-hey, hold on!" Alphys ordered as she held her down, and without letting up held out a hand as she spread her digits wide. "C'mon, tell me how many fingers am I holding up?"

"Three," Undyne croaked and relaxed somewhat, the tension draining from her shoulders after hearing her girlfriends voice. "Hey, where are we anyway?"

"Hoo, she doesn't remember?" Tilin asked, popping into view from somewhere above Undyne's line of sight. "I forget, is that a good thing? It doesn't seem like it would be."

"No, it really isn't!" Shaking her head, the scientist closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. "Do you remember what happened at the park at least?"

"Sure I do."

"Well, after that, we got onto a bus."

"A bus?" Repeating the words, Undyne looked around at her surroundings and found that they made a whole lot more sense this time. The curve of the off-white ceiling, the uneven bench seat she laid draped out on, even the growling of an old diesel engine made perfect sense now. It was still rather scary that she didn't remember getting onto it. But, if she fell asleep with a head injury then she understood how that could happen.

"I see," Undyne muttered as she briefly closed her eyes to collect her thoughts. "How far from the park are we? Have you checked to see if we're being followed?"

"Not all that far," Alphys said as she glanced out through the emergency exist at the back and swallowed. "We're only a few blocks away. But I think we'll be fine though. It isn't like they know where we are or anything."

"But we should still be careful," Tilin said with a purr. "Mages are a tricky lot, after all."

"Yeah, good idea." Taking a breath, the warrior gritted her teeth and started growling out commands as she tried sitting up again. "Keep an eye out. Don't assume we're safe yet!"

"Hey!" Alphys said as she turned back to her. "I said hold still!" By the time she reached her though, Undyne was already sitting upright and panting between her teeth.

"Can't, not yet." Wincing, the warrior moved to cradle the mangled arm hanging limp from her shoulder, and only stopped after realizing just how bad of an idea that would be. "We aren't safe yet," she said slowly. "Until we're out of the woods, I need to…"

"You need to do, what!?" Planting her hands on her hips, Alphys looked at Undyne with a disapproving glare that would've put most mothers to shame. "Even if they found us, you couldn't do a thing with your arm like that. You'd just get yourself hurt!"

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Slumping forward in her seat, Undyne rested her head in the palm of one hand, and panted as she tried to think. "Do you have any healing items left?"

"What? No of course not." Alphys said with a shake of her head. "Who in the world would sit on that when you're all torn up like this?!"

Not ten seconds after she said that though, a certain somebody cleared her throat and both Monster's turned to see Tilin holding out a pastry as she stood on the arm of a chair.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Alphys said as she face palmed. "You had one the whole time!?"

*How much stuff do you have in that bag anyway?

"What, it isn't like it's going to help!" Tilin said scowling. "Look at her!" With the item still in hand, the cat pointed frantically at the wounded warrior. "Last I checked, Cinnamon Buns didn't do anything for melting!"

Tilin was right, of course. The casual passerby might think she was sweating or something, but the reality was undeniable. Undyne was dying. She could feel her strength, her very life, slipping away from her with each passing instant. Much as she might want it to, one healing item wasn't going to change that.

"But, it could buy us time!" Visibly upset, Alphys snatched away the bag with the item before ripping it open. "Besides, she's obviously hurting. Why wouldn't we stop that!"

"I thought I might need it!" Tilin said grumbling.

"Hey, enough of that," said Undyne as she took the gooey pastry. "This isn't helping us."

"Y-yeah, sorry about that." Shamefaced, the little scientist blushed and stared at the floor. "It's just, I don't know what to do in situations like this!"

"I know," Undyne said, before biting into the pastry and talking around it while she chewed. "But the first thing we need to do is…"

Before she could finish, a bright, cheerful and painfully familiar song cut Undyne off as Alphys' phone began to ring. As tense as they all were though, they were well past the second Japanese doki before she finally moved to answer it.

"Uh, s-sorry about that." Blushing a bright pink, the scientist shifted from foot to foot and fished the device out of her pocket. "Let me just turn this off real fast."

"Wait, who is it?" Undyne asked between bites, before Alphys could cancel the call.

"It looks like it's Sans," Alphys said, as she raised an eyebrow in surprise. "I'm not sure why he'd be calling though."

"Answer it, and tell him what's happening," Undyne ordered after swallowing another bite of food. "The more people that know what happened, the better."

"Oh right!" Without delaying any further, Alphys answered the call and held the device up to her ear as she started talking into it.

From where she sat, Undyne could only hear about half of the conversation. Even so, she was able to follow along, at least within reason. Yes, they had been at the park. Yes, there was an attack but they escaped and were on a bus now. But after that, well, Sans must've asked something difficult, because Alphys quickly became quiet, and stepped away from everyone as she cupped a hand over the phone.

"Yeah, she got pretty beat up actually…"

Faint as it was, Undyne didn't need to hear anything else.

Alphys was worried about her; so worried that she didn't even want her to hear as she talked about her injuries. Undyne wasn't entirely sure she understood that, but, if her girlfriend wanted to talk in private then she wasn't going to eavesdrop.

Unfortunately, that meant she only had the bitter-looking Cat Monster to talk to.

"So, I'm sorry about your food," Undyne began, holding up the pastry for emphasis.

"It's fine." Letting out a breath, the cat huffed and plopped down next to Undyne where her head had been resting until just a moment earlier. "You were in pain, hopefully it helps."

"Yeah, it is," Taking another bite, the fish woman rolled her injured shoulder and savored the sensation of relief as her bones clicked back together. True, it wouldn't fix everything, but for the time being, it would certainly do.

"That's good," said Tilin as she eyed the disappearing item. "Wish I'd brought more though."

"Eh, one should be plenty." Shrugging one shoulder, Undyne tossed the rest of the food into her mouth and wiped her hands. "Alphys is right. We got away clean, and those punks don't have a way of tracking us. We're probably safe, for now."

"For now?" Tilin asked skeptically. "What about later?"

"For you, there's not going to be a later. Next time we stop, you're getting off."

"Oh like hell I am!" Folding her arms, the cat monster looked up at Undyne and glared at her with indignation. "This is the most action I've seen in years. You, are not ruining this for me!"

"Dangit, this isn't a game!"

"I know that!" the cat said with a hiss. "But, right now, I'm the only fighter you guys have! "Besides." Using her chin, Tilin gestured toward Alphys. "I promised to protect her."

"Look, I appreciate that," Undyne whispered, trying to choose her words carefully. "But that wasn't supposed to be a forever thing. You've done your part, we don't need you anymore."

"Oh, really!"

Right then, if Undyne could have kicked herself in the face, she would've.

"Whoa, hey," she said as she put her hands out. "I didn't mean it that way!"

"Yes you did!" Glaring, Tilin curled her lips and hissed the words out through her teeth. "Even back in the Royal Guard, you always pulled this crap. Everyone else would be stationed at guard posts, or participating in training exercises, but not me. I'd be stuck playing Mall Cop in New Home of all the freaking places!"

"It was important!"

"No it wasn't!" Tilin snapped, causing Alphys and even the bus-driver to jump in alarm.

"What, were you that afraid I would show you up or something?!" Pausing, the cat Monster took a breath and narrowed her eyes, as old pain came bubbling to the surface. "Or maybe you really do think I was weak!"

"You're not weak," Undyne said with a sigh."Sure, you're a little low in stopping power, but in every other area, you're right up there next to me. If I could have trusted you in the field, you would've been a huge asset."

"I see," Tilin said, as some of the heat and pain left her voice. "So, why didn't you then?"

"Because," pausing, Unydyne searched for a gentler way of explaining herself before giving up with a shrug. "You wanted it too much."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"It means you were reckless! You always charged into situations without a second thought. Without thinking about how you, or others around you might get hurt if you weren't careful."

"Come on!" Tilin sneered. "Like I'd let a civilian get hurt!"

"You know what, I buy that. As reckless as you are, you'd march through fire to save someone else. But, when it comes to your own skin, I'm not sure you'd even bother."

"So, you held me back all this time, because you thought I'd get myself killed?"

Rather than answer with words, the fish woman chewed her lip for a moment and nodded.

After all this, Tilin deserved the truth. Even if it made her angry, even if the little devil hated her for it, she still owed her that much. But as Undyne sat there, the outburst she expected never came.

Instead, Tilin started laughing, letting out a breathy noise that was equal parts pleasure and pain. "You think you've got me figured out, don't you?" Despite the cat's grin, there wasn't any mistaking the venom in her voice. "Well I've got news for you, Undyne. You don't know a damned thing!"

Before Undyne could ask what she meant, there was a sudden heaviness in the air, and a warm electric pulse ran up her spine.

Even as she registered the sensation, other things began happening as well. Store displays flickered and blinked off. Car engines began sputtering left and right, forcing many a vehicle to come rolling to a stop. Altogether, it was as though a ghostly force was tearing through the city, stealing the life from it.

Luckily, most cars appeared to be unaffected, and traffic continued onward with only a few idle vehicles slowing it down here and there. Even their old bus seemed mostly unaffected, save the unsettling flickering of the ceiling lights. Before any of them could be too thankful however, everyone jumped as angry static erupted from Alphys' phone.

"Hey!" Alphys squeaked as she pulled the phone from her ear. "Wait a sec, you're breaking up!" Hoping it would help, the lizard-like scientist tapped the screen and put Sans onto the speaker. Sadly, all that did was make the noise even louder. Even so, something could still be heard through all that static.

"...Hold o… w… be there soon."

And with that, the phone's screen flickered once and died.

"Oh nooo," Alphys groaned as she stared at the device. "Tell me this isn't what it looks like!"

"I'm afraid it is." Wincing, Undyne slowly stood and made her way towards the emergency exit at the back of the bus. Looking out of it, the warrior couldn't help but notice all the cars weaving recklessly around dead vehicles. The pedestrians pouring into shops, offices, and even apartment lobbies. People were running scared and there was only one reason for it.

"Even the humans can feel it," Undyne said gravely. "Think about it, magic so powerful that it can even interfere with electronics. What could do something like that!?"

"Nothing, it's impossible!" Alphys said with a shake of her head. "It'd take something like a Monster-Human Soul Fusion to do to that. Nothing else should even be close."

"Then, how is this…"

Before Undyne could finish, she was cut off by an echoing animalistic screech. It was a call that seemed to originate from a forgotten epoch. Just hearing that primitive sound would be enough to make even the strongest of men quake. And, for all her bravery, even she wasn't wholly immune to its effects.

It was then, when she was still trying to get ahold of herself, that this thing came barreling around the corner on all fours, it's arrival announced by the blaring of horns. Digging in its talons, the creature left deep divots in the street, that only stopped when it hit a truck and sent it toppling.

For all that, it didn't seem to be bothered by its sudden violent stop. It just looked around and locked its eyes on all of them, as Alphys began screaming.


End file.
